Family Gym Night [The Science Center], and Intervals, Oh and Running

Last night, my husband decided to join me at the gym which meant that the kids were going to come, too. The little boys were very excited to go and play, and Grace, well, she managed to fall asleep on our way to the gym so we just hoped that she would wake up in happy spirits.


As an aside: What a day the boys got to have!  We were at the Carnegie Science Center in the morning, shopped for birthday presents for friends and cousins in the afternoon, and then gym playroom at night!  Sweet!

 In the Robot Room

There were 2 of these giant operation games.  The boys really got a kick out of playing with them.

Back to the gym:
Since Bob was there and I wanted to work out with him  we decided to "run" on the elliptical.  I don't know if I've mentioned it before, but I am not really a fan of the elliptical machine.  I would rather run (surprised?).  I do, however, find myself using it as a tool to work muscles that I don't otherwise work while running outside or on the treadmill.  Usually I'll hit the elliptical on days when I know I'll be using free weights as my warm up.

Anyway, a mile was more than enough for me, and he seemed ready to move on around the mile mark, so we were going to head down to the sprint track to do lunges and squats and all sort of fun legwork exercises. I spied a free treadmill just as Bob did when we were walking down the stairs, and he saw the look in my eye and suggested I grab it before someone else does.  He decided to cycle, and I ran intervals.

I. ran. fast.

I started at 6.5 mph, ran a minute or two, stretched, and then began climbing speeds in .2 increments.  10-20 seconds rest in between 45-30 running time 1 minute running time for the first few speeds).  It really felt good.  I climbed all the way up to 9.1 mph and ran at that speed a few times 3x for 15 each time.

9.1 mph Woot!  hahaha, I ran a mile and a half in 13 minutes -- a record for me ;)

After the my intervals and Bob's miles on the bike, we did a couple of exercises on the circuit machines.  Just looking at them overwhelms me. He showed me how to use a few of them to isolate different arm muscles (I'm terrified of getting giant shoulder muscles and still having flabby arms, Weird, huh?).  I still am not sold on the machines, but I appreciate his help.  I think that I'll have to try them out a few more times to become more confident with them.

We left the gym earlier than I had intended as Grace woke up and was grumpy for Nicky, so we called it a night.  It was a great night though, and I'm looking forward to more gym dates with the family!

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This morning I ran for 40 minutes.  I ran around 3.5 miles.  It was a "slow" morning compared to last night, but it was running just the same.  The goal was to run for 40 minutes with my heart rate average 60-75% of it's maximum, which I did, and not to run at crazy speeds.

I am learning how powerful that my body can be.  I am learning, slowly, how fast I can go. I am learning how much I can really accomplish with hard work and dedication. (Thanks, Dolvette).  I am learning how much I can endure when I put my mind to it.  I like this learning. I like it a lot.


Blessings! and Joy!
Nicole mArie

Happy Donut Day!

This past Tuesday was a special day in our house.  We celebrated "Donut Day" -- many others celebrated this same day by a different name -- Fat Tuesday, Mardi Gras, Pancake Day, Shrove Tuesday. All of these are ways that the faithful can celebrate one last day before Lent, the season of penance and fasting which begins on Ash Wednesday.

How did we celebrate this, you might find yourself wondering?  Well, I hope that you are wondering because I'm going to share.  We made donuts for breakfast (and the rest of the day, I suppose)!  Yes!  The little boys were really excited about the idea of making donuts.  I found this recipe via Pintrest and figured that since it was so very simple, I could tackle it with the littles.   We skipped the "dip in butter step" as I thought that they were  bad  good enough as it was ;)

We made cinnamon sugar donuts and powdered sugar donuts.  Do you see the heart shaped centers?  The minis next on the right are baby hearts :)  

 yummy!

The little boys eating donuts and watching a movie. 

See, the problem with finding the yummy donut recipe was that it lead me to this ho ho cake recipe also in the same website, and I instantly felt compeled to  bake it as well.  I mean, it was for a special day.  Thanks goodness we had a Fat Tuesday party to go to! I took donuts and cake to the party/playdate and happily shared most of both sorts of sweets.

Aunt Terri and Michael, the cake is the stand-over-it-with-a-fork yummy kind of cake.  I guess that I shouldn't admit that in public, but oh my gosh, it was so good.


No. No, I did not run on this day.  I probably should have though ;)

Blessings! and Joy!
Nicole

A Sunny 5 Miler

Highland Park Reservoir

Picture taken by my brother, Michael

I ran 5 miles on Sunday. Outside. In the sun. Without a jacket. In Highland Park. Woot!

(All of those phrases were definitely important enough to have a period to separate them from each other. Really.)

It was the first time running outside since December 31st. It was also the first time that I ran in almost 2 whole weeks. The first 3 miles were 11 minute miles and the last two were 12ers. Good stuff for my not running in a while! I also realized toward the end of my run that while I was a little tired and ready to finish, I know that I had another mile or so in me. It was very encouraging.

The soreness that I experienced yesterday was more than I wanted, but I'll take the bad with the good.

Oh! I've reached my fundraising goal of $1310! YaY! I've had 11 wonderful and incredibly generous human beings sponsor me, and many promises of my sponsorship. Since I have 74 days until the race, I've decided to make a new goal of $2000. With your help, I know that I can do it! If you haven't already sponsored me, please consider it. Consider helping out the babies and the mamas who Women's Choice Network is helping!

Thank you for reading. Thank you for your prayers.

Blessings! and Joy!

Nicole mArie

http://www.ministrysync.com/event/website/?m=823520#0

running and valentines and so much love

I absolutely wish that I had more to report on this evening. I don’t have much to say about training as training was abruptly interrupted on Tuesday of last week with sickness. You know the terrible puke-y stomach thing-y virus that has been going around? Yeah, well, my little family had our fair share of it. Husband was off work for 2 1/2 days, Max threw up (in his words), “all over, ALL over myself, huh, mama? It was so gross!” Yes, yes, it was really very gross. I got sick for a few days when Bob went back to work and it was pretty awful. Once the virus worked it’s way out of our house, a runny nose cold thing moved in. Benjamin started it, then Grace, then Bob, Max and I. We apparently like to do everything as a family unit. eh. I really do think that it’s definitely over with now. There are just some runny noses to deal with. That I can manage. Boogers don’t scare me.

In other news, completely unrelated to training, we had a lovely St. Valentine’s Day party this week. 15 or 16 moms in total were here, and so were 27-ish children Yes, really. It was a lot of fun. I took a few pictures with my phone as I don’t currently have a real camera (I’ll post them below). I just knew that I wanted to document the crazy wonderfulness that happened. The table scape was fun and easy and inexpensive to come up with, the food was awesome as some of my guests brought the yummiest snacks to share, and I was reminded, again, just how much I love the excuse to have a party and celebrate life — this time, LOVE — with friends and family.

It was really great this year to celebrate St. Valentine’s day with the little boys (Grace, too, but she didn’t have any idea what was really going on. Next year she will). They were so excited for the big party we were going to have, they were so excited to mail valentines to our family and to our friends — they were SO specific about which card to send to each person (they picked the cards out, it was a hilarious undertaking . M picked Spiderman and B picked Kung Fu Panda). I LOVED how much they wanted to share their love. It reminds me that I need to be that excited to share my love. What awesome teachers I have!!

Mu spirit is energized by people, and goodness, and beauty, and joy around me. The women who were at my house — ahhh, yes — these women are kind and honest, and share in this goodness and beauty of spirit, and joy. They have so many different gifts to share and I am thankful to have them in my life, in the life of my family. It is a gift to have them, and their darling children, to my home. Now if I could just keep my home orderly so that I could have them more often… but that’s another post (or many posts), for another time.

Blessings! and Joy!

Nicole mArie

I liked the use of ribbon from the chandelier,

but check out the blue painters's tape on the chair back ;)

hahahaha rough little boys = broken chair

Valentine wrapping for Daddy/Husband inspired by these Printables -- I didn't manage to cut the banners out

so I wrapped with parts of them instead.

My new friend, Colleen, made these super cute and fun heart treats!

This may be my favorite picture -- check out the number of baby carriers ;)

A few to the left are missing from the picture.

mmm...yummy food.

Valentines for the kids. Goldfish were perfect for toddlers and my little boys call hershey kisses "fishy kisses".

Of course, we needed to add those to the bags :)

Bag toppers were al la thebusybudgetingmama.com aka my new friend Natalie

Bookmarks for Mamas via Pintrest -- totally simple and cute! I found a tutorial online for ya here.

Table scape :) with Carrot raisin muffins

Thank you, Natasha for introducing them to Max!

Little boys writing their valentines :)

As seen from the street.

You.

Are.

SO.

Loved.

apply.courage

I am not finished. I am much closer to the beginning than I am to the middle, even, but I had the courage to begin, and I have the courage to continue, and I will have the courage to finish.

*smiles*
Apply those words to my running.
Apply those words my spiritual life.
Apply those words to all that is Nicole mArie.
Apply courage. Then see, feel, know, live a miracle.

Boom.

Happy Day to you.
Blessings! and Joy! and today, Courage!
Nicole mArie

Prayers.Donations for WCN

As you know, I am running the half marathon this May and raising money for Women’s Choice Network, too.

Today I received an email from WCN asking for additional prayers for their ministry. This is an excerpt:

“Our growing centers need your prayers. Our staff and faithful volunteers are on the front lines everyday. Pray for wisdom, compassion, insight, and boldness to share God’s love. February is one of our busiest months for outreach. Our Education Outreach speakers will visit over a dozen schools, churches, and fairs with the message of abstinence reaching thousands of students this month. Thanks for your support and daily prayers!”

Please consider saying an extra prayer for those at WCN and for those who are seeking their help and counsel. Also, if you are able, please consider donating to WCN via the link below, as I continue to raise money for them. I’m 73% to my goal of $1310 — all with your help. Thank you for your support!!!

Half Marathon for WCN.

Blessings! and Joy!

Nicole

Quick Recap

Quick Recap:

I ran intervals last Thursday, 2/2, at the gym. The little boys and little girl played very nicely while I pushed myself faster than I’ve been able to run before. I began by walking for a few minutes to warm up my muscles, and then I stretched a little bit to see if it would make a difference (usually I just start running). I think that it did.

I started jogging at 5 mph and built up to 8 mph — yes, I realize that 8 mph isn’t very fast, but it was for me. I ran for a minute (or 45 seconds when the speed was above 6.8), and rest for about 15-30 seconds in between. Speed increased by .2 each time I ran. It became hard, but it felt great that I could do it.

I found that my cadence didn’t change until I reached 7.4 mph. My foot strike count (that I mentioned in a previous post) only increased by 4-8 steps a minute from 7.4 – 8 mph. I’m not sure what that means exactly. How can I maintain the same amount of foot strikes at 5 and 7.2 mph? Runners, any ideas?

- – - – - – -

On Friday, 2/3, I missed my swimming date with my friend Amber (she’s training for Ironman Kentucky this August!) because she and I both chose to sleep in. It’s not easy to wake up at 5:20 am in the morning!!! Anyway, I went to the gym mid-morning and “swam” with two lovely older ladies who were much more graceful than I was. I was trying to swim Amber’s warm up that I was introduced to last week. This warm up kicks my butt. I also think that these lovely ladies who I was swimming with also kicked my butt I am not ashamed, I will keep my Friday swim date and eventually I will get better. I only wish that I had started swimming sooner than this!

- – - – - – - -

I didn’t fit my 3 mile run in on Saturday, 2/4, but I did find out that I officially have lost 40.2 pounds since last May! I’m back in the healthy range for my BMI and I couldn’t be more happy. 4 more pounds to lose and I’ll be at my wedding weight. Then when I lose 10 more than that, and I’ll be a happy camper and “finished” losing, I think. I really have been working hard to get healthy and fit. It’s paying off, and I love how I feel!

- – - – - – - -

I did manage to fit my 3 mile run in on Sunday afternoon and I had company for this! Amber and I trained together for a while and it really was great to have a friend to talk to while running. It makes training go by so much faster, and it’s much more enjoyable. We even did a bit of spinning together afterwards. Woot!

All in all, it was a great training week I hope that this didn’t bore you all. completely.

Blessings! and Joy!

Nicole

day of rest

Today is Wednesday. Wednesdays are rest days in my training plan. My training plan stresses the importance of rest days. Last week, I was thankful for the rest day. Really thankful. Today, I am feeling torn about this day of rest.

I live in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and I am training in the winter, and it is 57 degrees outside, and it is February 1st, and I really, really, really, want to take advantage of this good weather and SUNSHINE and run my face off. (I just used a lot of ands, an I’m ok with that. Commas are great friends.)

sigh.

I will play by the rules today even though I am itchy with the desire to run outside. Maybe you can go and run in my place?

Blessings! and Joy!

Nicole