Jen's Blog

I had so much fun with my oldest at the Color Run this last weekend...it was just the two of us on a cold morning! The race was a lot of fun and really well organized!

It's been awhile since I posted! My goal is to run 6 races this summer...ending with a half marathon in October! This is what I have so far... April 26th, 2014 - Color Run May 4th, 2014 - 5K at the Eau Claire Marathon June 20th, 2014 - UV Color Splash by Color Dash October 19th - Half Marathon!

Week Four in my quest to run a half marathon in October! (well week five, but I had a whole week setback when I was sick). This weeks training schedule includes 3 runs, a yoga and hopefully an elliptical workout.  Today I got in the first run, which was a 20 minute steady run. I also am experimenting with some healthy recipes to try and get my boys to eat a little bit more meat and veggies.  Last night I made a Pecan Chicken Tender recipe and they eat it up!  It was from a clean eating for families cookbook and I felt so happy that they loved it!  This one will be added to our monthly rotation for sure. I am hoping to have some fun appetizers and snacks for the Olympics opening ceremonies.  This usually involves a lot of fried cheese items, but I am hoping to go a little healthier this year.  Does anyone any ideas? Looking forward to another great week here!

My goal is to run 6 races this summer...ending with a half marathon in October! So far I am officially registered for one. May 4th, 2014 - 5K at the Eau Claire Marathon

I am not going to lie, the last few weeks have been rough!  The cold weather, the snow and my week long cold.  I did not exercise at all last week!  And I have been dying to run outside but I just can't bring myself to do it in the cold and the snow!  Add into that the home renovations we have been doing and the fact I started graduate school in.  Crazy! I did however get back on track this week!  I restarted week 3 of my 5k to 10k program, and I could tell I took a week off!  So far this week I have been active everyday except Sunday. Monday - Ran 20 minutes, 5 minute warm up and cool down, 10 minutes arm strength Tuesday - 50 minutes yoga, abs workout Wednesday - 40 minutes elliptical Today my plan is to get in 25 minutes of running, 35 minutes total.  Friday is elliptical and maybe yoga and Saturday is my long run for this week, 40 minutes. Also this week I decided to do something about the 10 pounds I gained over the holidays and I t...

It was a busy week here...as usual. I have one child recovering from a concussion and another came down with a fever. Thankfully the concussion is on the mend and the fever was shirt lived! I struggled this week though. The ten pounds I gained over the holidays started to get to me. I didn't get very many workouts in and I was either a little sick or just feeling the winter blues. Maybe a little of both. I was able to bounce back today after feeling sorry for myself forms few days. The wonderful massage I had this morning helped. Sometimes you need to take care of yourself in order to take care of anyone else. I did get two out of three runs in this week...today I got in 2 miles which felt pretty good. The first good workout I have had all week. Planning on getting another workout in on Sunday. Busy weekend here, basketball tournament for my youngest tomorrow and our 17 year anniversary celebration tomorrow evening. Also we will be finishing up our house projects hop...

well I got my workout in today but it was a big struggle. I was just tired and very unmotivated, and the run felt sluggish and it was not very fun. Total workout time today was 36 minutes. I am proud of myself for not skipping it like I wanted to, and I do admit later in the day I did feel pretty good. I did a total of 2.2 miles so that was good. I do have one more workout to get in this week. I wish I had done it yesterday when I had the day off, but I was working on my office the whole day. Now I need to either get my long run in late tomorrow or late Saturday. I work all day tomorrow and we have an all day basketball tournament Saturday. I struggle with getting my workouts in early in the morning or later in the afternoon. I really prefer to do it between the hours of 9am-3pm. This week my long run is 35 minutes. I hope to get in a workout Sunday as well, starting week three of the 5k to 10k program and hopefully an hour of yoga. That should start my week out right! ...

I never thought that it would be possible that I would miss running outdoors...but it turns out to be true. However there is no way I am going to run in the winter, let alone in the 40 below weather we are having today. I got my workout in today but it was rough going, I am sore from painting the last two days and I felt sluggish. I completed my 20 minute run and my 10 minutes of walking but only logged 1.8 miles today. Oh well...Wednesday will be better hopefully. In other news I have two coats of paint in my room and it is looking bright and cheery! Also my sister emailed me last night, she needs some motivation as well and we are looking at doing another race together early this summer! I hope everyone is staying warm...I just found out my kids are off school tomorrow too, so that makes a four day weekend for them. I however have to head out into the cold tomorrow and return to work.

We are under a wind chill warning here...lows with windchill can be as low as 60 below the next few days. So happy I bought groceries and supplies Friday so we don't need to leave the house. Today I am taking a rest day and am planning on painting my scrapbook room/office. I have one semester of graduate school left and it will be nice to look at bright, happy walls instead of dingy, dirty sad walls. Also on schedule for today is the Packer game! I am a huge fan! Go Packers! Tomorrow I start week two of my 5k to 10k program. It's a 20 minute steady run. Then I think I'll do an hour of yoga. I finally found a yoga app that works for me. I had to pay for it but it really has some nice workouts. Have a wonderful Sunday everyone!

I ran 5 races in 2013...the first one was the 2-mile Buckshot Run. It was over 100 degrees that day in August and it was hot! My goal was to run the entire two miles, and I ran most of it. I did have to walk on one of the hills. My time for the 2 miles was 29.35. Not too bad for my first race, I had only been running about a month at that point! Race number two was the Color Dash with two of my sons, Ethan, 15 and Evan, 12. My goal was just to run the entire time. I am such a slow runner the boys were able to walk/run with me. We decided to run the entire thing together as it was a fun race. I am happy to say that despite my slow running we were able to to run the entire race! Here is a picture of the boys and I all colored up! In October Ethan, Evan and I decided to try our hand at another 5k and we ran the Biggest Loser 5k. We all ran at our own paces and I had my first official 5k time - 41.09. The boys did well for their first race too - Ethan fin...

It's a new year and I have set a new goal! I have decided to take my running hobby to the next level and try to complete a half marathon in 2014. It's a huge goal and I am not sure I can do it but I really want to try. I started running in August of 2013 and it's been a love/hate relationship. I completed five races last year and am planning on six this year, concluding with the half marathon.  As of today the furthest I have ever run is 3.5 miles...so that is a big increase in milage! I am currently working on the 5k to 10k program I downloaded on my phone. I also have also registered for my first race of 2014 to keep me motivated to run this winter. I am wimpy about cold so I plan to run mostly on my treadmill. My first race will be May 4th...the Eau Claire Marathon. I entered the 5k race! I plan to do my half marathon training mostly outdoors as I find the longer runs easier outside than on the treadmill. Today's workout - 30 minute run and then so...