Running Update: And the beat goes on

Total mileage:

19.8

Shhoooot!!  If I had known...just two little tenths of a mile short....arrrggg.

  But, this week marked another milestone(no pun intended) for me.  I ran 6.5 miles on the dreamill.  My longest run on the 'mill, to date, has been 6.2.  OOooh, yeah.  

I also was able to cross-train TWICE this week.  It was a little rough and I think I decided that Zumba...well, I don't know.  I love LAtin beats but I think I threw my back out trying to keep up with the instructor.  That was a first.  

She's a tall lanky brown skinned chica like myself, not the tall part, just the brown part, and I figured that since I have the Latin blood of a Cuban running through my veins I should have no problem moving more than one body part at once.  What a joke.  I resolved myself to jumping around in the far corner of the class by myself while the other ladies in their 50's flapped their arms around desperately.  I'm useless.  Yoga and pilates definitely agree with me and my back.  I feel like a million bucks after an hour of that and I always have to wake myself up at the end of class.  Don't know how I end up falling asleep, but I do.  Every time.

Oh, did you know, that the safest way to stretch your back is to squeeze your glutes and do a baby back bend.  Just slightly arch your back, raising your arms and squeezing those glutes to the maximus!  Just a little tip.  

I'm planning on running everyday next week, including Sunday.

Silent cheerleaders, do you have any goals for this next week?

And the winner is...

DONNA! 

Congratulations and please contact Unique Cakes so you can get your tutu!

Thank you all for entering and I will be posting about another giveaway in the near future.  Of course, it will be more handmade goodness :) 

Sewing: Sacrificial Socks

Have you ever had a favorite pair of socks?

Please, you would be lying if you said you didn't. 
It's not like these socks had magic powers or anything but putting them on did make me happier.

I'm a sucker for color.  It wasn't always this way, though.  I discovered that if you're going to wear color you need to be confident in the ones you pick!

(a recent photo of my dad and I at the Met.  That's a gorgeous Rodin piece behind us)

I'm not saying I'm the most confident person, but I am confidently colorful.  For sure.  

So that's why when I put on my favorite pair of stripey socks one day and within three steps they promptly slid down my leg, I got really sad.

And then I hid my socks from myself so I wouldn't have to think about throwing them away.

A couple days ago I was browsing the net looking at some of my favorite sites (their buttons are on the right hand side of my blog).  I saw this tutorial and I knew what I had to do.

No, I did not pull them out and walk around the house in them one last time, I simply started tracing and cutting.  You know, just to get it over with...like a band-aid.

I have to say that stuffing the body was fun.  Stuffing the arms, and tail, not so much.  And I thought that I would dread the hand sewing part, but oddly enough I felt organic as I sewed those little tubes onto the tadpole looking thing I had just stuffed.

Of course, in any sewing adventure, or ANY adventure, for that matter, there is bound to be a silly mistake.  *sigh*  So, I sewed BOTH my socks into monkeys instead only ONE like I was supposed to.  The other sock is meant to be used for the arms, ears, nose and tail.  Please don't make the same mistake I did.  You might not be so lucky to have an extra pair of old socks laying  around to save your bacon.

Blue arms, tail, nose and ears.

(poor lighting, I didn't want to use my flash...maybe I should have)

But it turned out so cute that I couldn't beat myself up too horribly.

I did have plans for this cute little monkey.  He was supposed to be a gift for someone, but Cylas was smitten and I just couldn't bear to take it away from him.

So, there is another sock monkey in my crafty future...

And I'm really excited about this one.

 

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Also!  Don't forget about the giveaway!  It ends tomorrow!!  Please enter and help a fellow stay at home mom with her business endeavour.  THanks everyone

Sewing: If I could I would

But I can't!

I had a wonderful little sewing update planned today, but I can't post it!!  Unfortunately, I have run out of photo space on my blog and I have to purchase more, but it's going to take 24 hours until it's added!!!  So, I have one little teaser photo for you all and I promise to have everything in tip top shape for tomorrow's update.

Such beautiful colors...what to do, what to do.

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Also!  Don't forget about the giveaway!  It ends tomorrow!!  Please enter and help a fellow stay at home mom with her business endeavour.  THanks everyone

Running Update: Midnight snacks

I have a problem.  I love to eat.  Of course, I'm pretty particular about what I eat, but there are some things I just can't live without.  

Last night, I started my running week off with a bang.  5.2 miles and I felt great.  I'm hoping to keep up the trend and reach 20+ miles this week.  It will be a long time coming.  

Either way, when ever I finish my runs I'm borderline famished.  Like, everything looks like I need to eat it.  Well, almost everything.  McDoodies and any sort of fast food makes me gag.  But I'm pillaging through my fridge searching for leftovers or eating a full dinner after my workout.

My workout days usually go like this: eat, feed babies, clean, take care of the children, play, sleep(maybe), clean, eat a late lunch, start dinner around 4pm, cook dinner around 5pm, wake the kids up, feed them dinner, wait for D to get home(around6pm), go workout, come home to a husband that ate the dinner I made, eat dinner by myself, shower and collapse.

Yeah, so my workouts are in the evening time, hence my insane hunger.  So, last night after my workout I stopped by the store to pick up a few things for a sewing project (that I will reveal probably tomorrow. excited!) and stumbled upon the best little snacky-doo, ever!  Now, I have always been a Clif Bar fan, my first introduction to it was two days after Cy was born.  Friends of mine came to the hospital with a care package full of bananas, fruit snacks and a peanut butter Clif Bar.  Ahhh, hooked, instantly.  So, it's safe to say, that yes, I'm a Clif Bar fan -- five years and counting.

So when I saw this new bar they came out with, I snatched it up.  

I have no clue how they managed to take a "granola" type bar and make it perfectly crunchy and perfectly soft enough all at the same time.  Protein heaven.

What I snack on, my kids also snack on, I had better make sure it's healthy!

Clif bars for Cy and fresh strawberries and yogurt covered raisins for Roma.

Bottom line -- I NEED protein.  I love pistachios after working out, too.  Last night, I made a "stir fry" of sorts.  I found a fabulous recipe for teriyaki sauce, marinated the chicken for about an hour and tossed my carrots and asparagus around in steaming oil until they were relatively soft.  Served up over puffy white rice.  Delish and the perfect meal to consume after a vigorous workout.

A 40 min run and Yoga/pilates tonight!  

Silent cheerleaders.  What are you doing to stay fit today?

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Also!  Don't forget about the giveaway!  Only a couple days left!  Please enter and help a fellow stay at home mom with her business endeavour.  THanks everyone

Running Update: Not you again

 

(wearing ankle socks not knee socks! the weather was so beautiful.)

Yesterday was somewhere close to a storybook version of "perfect running weather".  Unfortunately, I was unable to take advantage of it.  Boo.  My running buddy did, though.  I saw her from my front room window, trot by, and I cried inside a little.  Why couldn't that be me?  Then Cylas asked me for something to drink and it snapped me back to reality.  My kids.  D was at school not set to be home until around 7pm.  No running for me at that time of night out here!  Me, the great outdoors and the potential to be a brown bear's tasty brown girl meal.  Nuh uh.  I'll pass.  So, I decided that I would rock it out at the gym after D got back.  

HAH.  It didn't take me too long to realize that I would rather enjoy a fresh, homemade pizza covered in deliciousness like fresh slices of mozzarella, pieces of Canadian bacon, crisp green bellpeppers, and thinly sliced mushrooms.  Their pizzas out here are awful so I found a solution, Boboli crusts and my creative cooking imagination.  WAY better than the bitter, alkaline tasting pizza we get from out here.

So, no gym yesterday, but I did hit the dreadmill today(my new fuzzy, warm, term for the 'mill).  5.2 miles today.  Most I've run in a while.  Around 2.5 miles I smiled and just knew that today was a 5 miler type of day.  3.5 I started feeling my oats and getting a little crazy with my headbanging.  I headbang when I run.  Not a lot...just a little...just enough to feel crazy good and motivated.

I polished off the 5 miles smiling and my legs felt warm and good.  

Total mileage:

14.6

I know, it's a far cry from the 20 I have been shooting for but I'll get back to it.  I did do some yoga/pilates cross training this week.  An hour of that will make you long for a steaming bath.

I am STILL in the running, silent cheerleaders, this coming week is full of plenty of miles...not sure about the sunny days, but I will be pounding it out one way or the other.  

Three cheers!?

Sewing: If you don't like tutus then...

You're probably the mother of like, three boys.

Today, I would like to introduce you to a friend of mine who has two little girls and loves tutus.  As a matter of fact, she makes them AND bows to match!  Her name is Kari.

She does a lot of really cute crafty things like, diaper cakes, headbands, bows...she has girls.  

What do you expect?

Well, she would like to giveaway one of these cute little tutu/bow combos!  And even if you don't have cute little girls of your own, you might have nieces or granddaughters or even goddaughters.

She is giving away this adorable "Tinkerbell" tutu.

*she can make them as small as 3mo and as large as 5T*

To ENTER:

If you're on Facebook, "like" Unique Cakes By Kari for a mandatory first entry. (and leave a comment telling me you did)

To earn extra entries:

• "Follow" me! 2 entries
  
• Tell 5 friends about Kari! 2 entries
• Follow me on Twitter!  2 entries
• Tweet about this giveaway! 2 entries  I’m a @mommyhobbies follower and entered to win a tutu!

In order for these entries to count, you must leave a separate comment for each extra entry.

The winner will be selected by random.org.

Contest runs through 2.24.11 No entries after 12 midnight on the 24th will be accepted.  Winner will be announced 9 am PST on the 25th.

Sewing: Who does that!?

Since I started dedicating a lot of time to my running, I started scheming, too.  My plan is to have a really cute outfit to run my first marathon.

Ever since I saw these, my mind has been rolling.  I want a sparkly skirt, too!  So, first things first.  Make a skirt that I can attach my sparkle to.  

Today was my day.  Fully determined to make a wonderful little running skirt I took my current one as a template.  I love my running skirt.  It fits in just a way that it doesn't hinder me at all when I run.  Love it.

But of course, with a brain like mine I'm bound to mess something up.  Like sew the top half of my skirt SHUT instead of the side?!  Who does that, anyway??  ARg.

 

It didn't take me too long to fix my mess.  Of course, I promised myself that I would be more attentive and not make anymore silly mistakes.  HAH.  No such luck.

 

Because of course, my next blunder was not so fixable *sigh*

 

Yeah, I sewed the band on incorrectly!  So, the outside of my skirt has a nice serge effect along the seams.  REally?  I was so bummed.

I'm thinking it looks cuter on my baby girl.  So, my first time trying to make myself a running skirt absolute failure.  But I know the next time around I will be more successful. 

I will have to make adjustments to the waist band because it was much more loose than I would prefer...being totally honest, the band was HUGE.  The rest of the skirt fit nicely, though.  I'm thinking, darts are in order.  Because there is no other way to get that band to fit properly.

On the hunt for cute, sparkly, tutu material.  Any ideas??

Running Update: Where was I??

I seriously feel like I've been in a time warp.  The past week and a half has NOT been what I would consider notable.  Blah.  That's how it's felt and when I stepped on the scale I screamed.  Well, maybe I yipped.  So, you know this thing called metabolism.  It stabbed me in back...or in the rear or in the hips or wherever.  It stabbed me and stuck it to me good.   I feel like I'm hungry a lot.  I eat.  And then I expend my energy and then I eat a little more.  I do not gorge myself or over eat at all.  I eat until satiated.  But, I am constantly looking for something to munch.  Pistachios, raisin bran, leftovers, you name it...but I haven't been able to spend it all.  My calories...spending my stinkin' calories.  Soooo, this week I did a total of:

7.7

 In an effort to make sure I do not rip my neck muscles into that horrid place of pain, I have taken it really easy.  I'm glad and sad.  I feel like hiccuping and crying all at the same time.  There are more miles that I need to run, but if I don't take it easy I won't be able to run at all.

Basically, on the road to a complete recovery.  My neck still acts up and I have pain every now and then, but I'm healing.

Oh!  I thought I'd let you all know that I'm going to be running my first ever 10k in June...I'll keep you posted.  6.2 miles baby!!  YEeaaaaahh.

Silent cheerleaders, I need you now more than ever.  Every little piece of support I get makes it easier for me to push through.  Thank you all so much!

Running Update: Family

This is where I draw the line.  My family.  They come first. 

 (watching Curious George, cuz he's sooo cool!)

The last time I ran was my last running post to you all.  Since then, it's been a recovery period for myself while my children proceeded to get very ill.  

I'm a mommy and wife, first, THEN whatever kind of wannabe athlete after.  So, yeah, mileage count.  

0

Not going to lie.  I feel like junk.  I want to run so bad.  It's been a week and I feel like I'm growing a second stomach or something.  Getting a little stir crazy.  The gym has yoga/pilates this morning and I had planned to go, because they offer childcare and it's only an hour and I NEED to exercise.  But my little girl had me up half the night with her coughing, choking and wheezing.  So it was a no brainer for me this morning.  Baby girl is just not well enough for me to take her out.  Yet another day, inside, the weather is horrible and my legs are going to start involuntarily running in place if I don't get to the gym soon.

Don't lose hope in me silent cheerleaders.  Just keeping my priorities straight is all.

Sewing: Zip yo' lip, girl!

My sisters can attest to the fact that I was a bit lippy when I was younger and my step-dad's favorite phrase was, "zip yo' lip!"  Sometimes in jest but most of the time not...I don't think I ever really learned my lesson...

Anyway, anyone ever started a hobby and then got to the point where you knew you should be taking bigger steps but were scared?  Join my club.  My fear came in the form of two rows of teeth neatly fitted together, ranging from 7 to 22 inches and a wide array of colors. 

The zipper.

Since the beginning of the year, I have been determined to sew in a zipper.  But scared as I was the closest I would get to even TOUCHING a zipper was buying them on sale and stashing them away telling myself, "someday soon, someday soon".  Every time I'd open my sewing drawer, there they would lay gritting their surly teeth at me.  But I would quickly slam the drawer and find something else to do so  I could forget about them.

But today, was the day.  Don't ask me why.  The weather was bad, the sun didn't shine ONCE and I never left the house.  So, it wasn't like there was a gorgeous day with that magical sunshine beaming through my windows inspiring me to be brave or anything.  No.  Today was just normal.

 

So, I pulled out some fabric that I bought on sale months ago (hoping to make myself a skirt...with a zipper.  Never did.) and set to work.  Not without interruptions though.  Because it wouldn't be a challenge without a few hiccups, right?

My baby girl was so, so grumpy today.  She is still sick and very clingy.  She sat on my lap and cried.

And cried...but it was so cute.

But I finally got her to bed and dug back into my very scary zipper.

Until I realized that I need to be sewing all of my seams at 5/8.  And I wasn't.  Seam ripper to the rescue.  

(if you look closely you can see the two seams.  I had to rip out the outer seam)

Then it came time for the zipper and I was nervous.  I pulled out the zipper foot and fumbled around.

Pinned my zipper down and set to sewing.  And it worked!!  It seriously, seriously sewed right into place.  Like magic.  Wow, following the directions makes things so much easier.

And I really like my skirt.

Fits great and I can't wait to wear it in public.  I'm going to sew another skirt with another zipper on another day.

Zip-i-dee-do-da, zip-i-dee-ay!

Running Update: Laced up my shoes today

My neck feels better.  I think that's because I practically pulled it off my shoulders to twist and move my very, very tender muscles in an effort to convince them to disentangle themselves from the back of my brain.  A few tears were shed yesterday in my endeavor.  It's ok.  I feel a million times better today.  There is still a twinge if I move my neck a certain way, but at least I can move my neck!

Today I went to the gym with my babies.  Mistake number one.  Walked in an hour AFTER the babysitter for the gym had gone home.  So, no sitter for the kids.  I decided that I would try to run as fast as I could while the children entertained themselves in the playroom...right next to me.  Mistake number two.  I wasn't even at a mile when Cylas pops his head out and yells REALLY loud that he has to "go peeeee!"
"Just go, it's ok!  Just go!"  I'm huffing and puffing and my neck hurts because I'm twisting it the wrong way so I can see him better.  I almost fall off and he's still staring at me not moving.

At a mile an a half, I hear screeching and Cylas opens the door again this time to tell me Roma wants to talk to me.  She has PBJ all over her face and she's crying.  Rats.  My treadmill is still churning at 6.2 mph.  I hop off, give her a quick kiss and dart back to the mill.  My little red numbers smile back at me 1.3.  Shoot.  how am I going to make it to 2 miles without my kids killing themselves...  Solution.  Run faster.  7.0 it is and I'm sweating fiercely, at this point, and hoping that Cylas doesn't open that door again because I just know that I will fly off backwards like somebody from the Matrix kicked me and slam into what ever is behind me.  Thankfully, he doesn't and I successfully completed a 2.1 mile run in a little over 20 minutes...slow,  but pretty ok considering I was on a treadmill running for my life. 

7.4

Don't be disappointed.  I'm going to be running tomorrow, too.  Maybe another 5 miler?  This time SANS children, blessed Mary mother of God save me.

Silent cheerleaders?  Show me some love. 

Running Update: Discouraged

I thought for sure after almost two weeks I would have recovered, but it's not so.  Two weeks ago I hurt my neck and ever since I've been in severe pain.  It affects my sleep.  My nights have included me grabbing my own neck and holding it tightly so I can turn my body into a new position.  I haven't had a full range of motion in my neck this whole time and it's making simple tasks that much harder.  Picking up my children, doing dishes, making dinner, cleaning up the house.

Monday I ran full tilt beating my treadmill time and coasting through 5.3 miles like it was nothing.  THAT was glorious.  But now, it's Wednesday and I know that I need to put in another 5 miles but I'm not sure my neck will allow me.  I can't even swallow my food or drink without it hurting!!  It's horrible.  So, if once again, my miles are low this week bear with me, please.  My body is letting me know that I have to rest and it's KILLING ME!  My legs are burning to go for a run, but I don't want to continue to aggravate my neck muscles.  Please pray that I recover soon, because I don't know how much more I can take...sleepless nights, inhabited exercise and constant pain.

Grrrr.

Silent cheerleaders, you know what to do.