Welcome August

Hello August,  I have a love relationship with the beginning of each month. I just love love having a clean slate to start over in planning my goals for the month. However big or small your goals are the Rad thing is they are yours. This is one thing about the sport I adore that works for me. I love that I have a goal when it comes to my training, my big race is October 11th. I have 71 days. This gives me two months to work my ass of to be in the best shape I can be to run 50 miles.. My goal for August is to check all my runs off. I am really trying hard to fallow this thing perfectly but also listen to my body. That means I have to not be to hard on myself for what I don't do but appreciate when I get a chance to run and try to make my runs good ones. This also means I have to get my runs in 90 percent of the time and not slack off. I have a start method if I get my runs in I give myself  star and at the end of the month I like seeing all the stars because they represent all the times I showed up for myself and when you have 4 kids and your a taxi driver and a cook its a big deal to make that happen. 

My running goals for this moth are 178 miles.
My mommy goals are to make every swim team practice

to cook dinner 5 out of 7 days. To take my kids to the zoo and swimming at my dads house twice. ( I live far away from everything so everything I mention is at least a 40 minute drive). I almost forgot to make sure we all go get froyo together a couple times. I would also like to do one thing that takes me out of my comfort zone and I know what that is I just have to get the courage to do it. I will tell you about it when its done. 

I love this saying it is taped in my journal. I guess I love the beginning of the month because its another opportunity to start and fallow through. Its really good to love yourself and pat yourself on the back when you made it. In order to grow and do that you have to step out of your comfort zone and not be afraid to fail. That's another thing I love about running marathons and training for my second ultra its a great opportunity to try and grow as an athlete and when race day comes its just me and the road or the trails. I am not going to win any race but when I cross the finish the line no matter how long it took me if I gave everything I had that day guess what ?  to me and my crew I won. Running gives me the opportunity to not be afraid to stretch and grow in ways I did not know I could.  Planing my month out in advance is a key piece to getting my goal achieved. Yes in my cheering section here comes a whole new month…Do you have plans for next month and do you have a way that helps you achieve it ? I would love to know..

Thank you July

The month has come and gone and with its passing it has left with me sweet memories and feelings that will live within me. I am sad to see it leave as it takes with it a bit of my children's childhood that I will not get back . I am very grateful for the possibilities of what is coming next. So thank you oh sweet July for letting us all be happy and healthy..I will see you again next year. 

Beating the Post Marathon Blues

Beating the post marathon blues can be tricky. I don't think it matters how many marathons you have ran each one is a big deal. It has its own story. It changed you in some way. Each marathon has its own group of friends and each race has its own training story and then the actual race story. I remember them all good and bad. What they all have in common and I forgot until today is the marathon blues. You trained so hard for so long that when race day comes and goes you are left feeling kinda empty sad. I started feeling this last night and then I remembered this feeling. To me it feels like a great friend came and visited and stayed with you and you had a great time and then they have to go home. When they leave your left feeling sad. So I looked back at my journals to see what things I had done to help me feel better. I want to start by saying these are things that have worked for me in the past. I can't speak for anyone else just me. 

1. The first thing is I let myself take a couple days off. I try and recover. During this time I try and keep my mind busy. This is not hard with 4 kids. I actually started knitting again today this was to  get my mind away from thought of running. When I have traveled to Marathons I always try to stay a couple extra days after to keep busy and celebrate. 

2. I take really good care of myself after. I feel weaker or just more susceptible to getting sick. ( I haven't yet but just in case ) I drink lots of orange juice take my vitamins and try to eat a clean diet. I have a couple extra smoothies. I try and stay really hydrated sometimes I don't but when I do I can really tell I recover faster. I also try and have a bit more protein .

3. I feel like this is key. Even though it might be the last thing you want to do the day after the marathon I really think it helps.

Go for a small jog or walk. It really helps with soreness. I mean a take it easy jog. A relaxing jog. Your legs will thank you but so will your brain. You know your feeling a little down and going on a short jog just helps lighting the spirits and relax those muscles. Its a win win situation.

4. Go to bed early. Getting good sleep really helps and if you have babies let yourself nap when they do. I napped today when Jack slept and told my older kids mommy needs a nap please hold down the fort. Its OK because as a mother if your feel good your kids are happier. 

5. Let yourself look for the next race. Its OK to sit down with your computer and let yourself look at other races. Setting out new goals is always fun. If you where not happy with your race and you know what you can do better next time plan it out and do it. My marathon in Mexico was not my best but it was also a training run so I am perfectly happy with it still I learned that my next race I think I will try  running with out my camel back. Its to hot right now to wear it specially if I am running a fully supported race. I have the AFC half marathon this month and I decided on mile 19 in Mexico as I was sweating my ass of to run the AFC with no music no hand held and no camel back. I think I carry way to much crap with me. I am excited to try something new. So go ahead and plan the next big race for yourself. Oh and if you love journals write this stuff down it really helps to see it.

6. Be accepting of how you feel. However it is you feel let it be. Let yourself feel it don't fight it and remember its just that a feeling and feelings pass. You just ran 26.2 miles and that's a huge accomplishment so if your feeling a little down after go ahead and feel that but then start doing stuff. plan things call friends and tell them about your race. Start a blog and share your experience with the rest of us..Move on and find your happy self again. Be kind to yourself and understand that this is all part of it. I hope this helps a little bit. I thought this would be a good time to write and share all this because I am right in the middle of it.
Happy Miles. G

The obsession with running is really an obsession with the potential for more and more life.

My Tijuana Marathon Experience

There is a free marathon and Half marathon put on every year by the the city of Tijuana to promote tourism in Mexico. I think the real reason is they want you to see that if you go down to Mexico you won't get shot or mugged and there is not drug dealers running around the streets. I know maybe years ago it seems things where that way, but not anymore.  I met a guy a couple of years ago who would, for $20, sign you up to run the marathon, then go pick up your bib in Mexico and bring it back . I would pay anyone $20 to cross the border for me. I hate the border, its always so long, so I looked up his email and contacted him again, and he said he was still picking up bibs. Then I called my dad and Mikes best friend Jeff and asked if they wanted to run the half or the full with me. I also asked a bunch of people from The Loaffers running group, but I had no luck. Most people are scared to go down to Tijuana.  Since I had no one to run with I thought maybe I just wouldn't do it, but I really knew I should because Its and good race and I needed to get the training in. I woke up at 3 because Jack is teething so I just got ready and left my house around 4:15. As a mom of four not only am I going to run a marathon, I get the whole day to myself..That's rare so heck yes I will take it. 

The race map.

Transportation is provided. You meet in San Ysidro at 5:30 and they drive you Mexico and to the race. Here is the best part of this: they also bring you back..Yes, they wait until a certain time and bring back across the border. In an air-conditioned bus. It is great. This is a picture of me leaving customs entering Mexico. From here they take us to the start line and they have a tent set up with free breakfast and water, it was very VIP. The girl in charge of this part of the race works for Road Runner Sports. She was really helpful. The other kids on the bus, and I say kids because the oldest was 26, were all from SDTC. They all ran the half marathon and two placed, and the rest did not because of the humidity. They were a really nice group of people, most runners are . We got all our bags situated and made sure we put our passports in a safe place, and then of I went to the starting line. I stood closer to the back because I was running the full and most people ran the half. I mean a couple thousand ran the half about 300 ran the full.

I saw a couple people with these socks. Some had Jesus and others the Virgin Mary. This is very Mexican. It made me smile. There was lots of excitement in the air and people doing jumping jacks and I could smell Bengay in the air. Hey, its the annual Tijuana Marathon, it's exciting stuff. 

 Here is a short video of the starting line. There are no corrals, just ready set go.

Here is my mantra, little did I know how much I would need it.

Here I am right before we started. I am still Happy.

The first half of the race was ok. I wanted to run the race in 4 hours or so..I ran the first half in 2 hours so it was ok. It is a little hilly and the whole thing is on the streets and they're not perfectly even and the humidity was crazy yesterday morning, so by mile 3 I knew it was going to be hard. I just felt like all my energy was being sucked out. I wanted to stop at the half marathon point. I even thought about stopping and getting a cab at mile 15 because it was so freaking humid, so for a couple miles I just imagined myself getting in a cab and going home and having a beer. Then at mile 18 I met a fellow runner. his name is Victor and he was just what I needed .  He wanted to talk and was upper motivated to finish. He made up funny sayings with my name in them and he was so excited about all things running.  It was his first marathon and he told me with so much excitement about his training and how he was going to finish in 4 hours. This race was had all the water stops you needed and gatorade. The one thing the second half did not have was people cheering you on, so you really had to be self motivated. Oh I almost forget to tell, you I forgot to charge my watch so I really was not sure where I was. I
guess-timated. I felt like hell from mile 20 to 26. I felt like I was melting, but I managed to finish and I went way over my 4 hour goal. I ran it in 4:21  I haven't seen the official results. I definitely grew as a runner. I feel capable of more because I finished. I am glad I did not take a cab.

Here is the medal. Its pretty and I earned it.

So after I walked around a little and changed my clothes, I went back to the bus and I can not tell you how happy I was not to have to drive or walk across the border . The wait time walking was 4 hours for pedestrians and cars had to wait 2 hours. We waited 20 minutes in the bus line… I will do this race again next year for sure but the half seems way more fun. I ended my race with a mexican Coke . Thank you for reading my blog and happy miles.

Tijuana Marathon

Its hard to believe that 3 years ago my dad and I ran the Tijuana half marathon. This is a video I made back in the day about our mini T.J. Half marathon experience. It was a great race really well put on and its free.. They had great music playing and misters too. I felt really safe down there too. 
I found out last week that the Tijuana Marathon was coming up and since I am supposed to run 20 Saturday 10 Sunday I thought why don't I sign up and do 5 Saturday and 26.2 on Sunday good Idea right ??
 Sunday is the day that I will running my 3rd marathon for the year. I am excited and nervous. I know once I am down there everything will be fine and I will be glad I signed up. It's always like this the days before I think "what was I thinking that's a long way to run." Then I start running I am loving life and I can't wait for the next race when I am done. I know its going to be hot so I am hoping for 4 hour marathon give or take a couple minutes. I am not  going for greatness I am going for a good solid training run with a medal please… I think the only thing that may make it hard is the heat so I am taking my camel back with GU brew and keeping hydrated until then. I will fill you in with the whole story when I get back but for now keep me in your good running thoughts Sunday as I run in Tijuana.. Did you know I born in Tijuana ? I was and I speak fluent spanish so it should feel cool to run in MEXICO…Happy miles 

 Here we are 6 am..

Our sweet medal.

Enjoying these foods

I am totally loving cucumbers right now. I love them cold. I love them with lemon . I love that there healthy and crispy.

I am loving the most basic salad. Tomatoes Onions Cucumbers and olive oil and vinegar . My favorite thing about it is it fills me up and doesn't hurt my tummy.

This is perfect food
 Peanut Butter and apples.. Yes please 

My new favorite gluten free chocolate swirl cup cakes.
There good and they don't hurt your tummy.
This is what I am probably having to much of this week cucumbers apples peanut butter and cupcakes..

Beach day

I spent a large past of today at the beach with this little guy and Isabella. We went bird watching. My little boy loves looking at birds on the beach so I hold his little arms so he can pretend walk and of we go.

Then when he sees one he lifts his little arm and I think he is mimicking there wings..Its the cutest thing ever. One thing about having a little person in your life again is it helps you slow down .

everything is new to him and I love seeing what he sees. 

I am not sure the temperature of the water but its not cold . Its ok. The beach was full of surfers and swimmers and kids. Its always nice to people watch when there is so much going on.

Little baby feet are the best ever.. Cute and chubby and cute.

See you soon and I hope you have a chance to get outside..

Words to live by

Its a wrap

Sunday Run day
I am happy that the week this week is all done and it was not all easy miles.  Training for a 50 miler is harder than I thought. I don't really know if I thought about how hard it would be. Once I get started its good but its always those first 3 miles I feel slow and sluggish. I was supposed to run 50 miles but I ran 46 and that is fine with me. I thought about how much I love my children on my run today and how lucky I feel to have them all in my house right now. It is crazy how you get to that point in your life where you rather be home playing a board game or watching a movie with your family than any where else doing anything else. I have incorporated movie night at our house. As my kids got older we stopped watching TV together . I was never a TV person but my kids like some shows so I learn to like them too. 
Yesterday we all hung out and watched a movie no I phones no computers . Just the big TV and us. We all ended up on the floor hanging out. I felt tired from the 20 miles I ran earlier but many times I feel like running helps me stop and really see whats important . The being tired is almost a good thing (sometimes) because I just watch this miracle of little people I made hanging out and I am in awe. I love there voices and the fighting and the singing. Now that Jack is a part of our life I love his little high pitched voice making sounds because he wants to talk too…Our life is short it does not last forever so I feel like doing something everyday with them is so important. That something  is often  hanging out all together on the floor reading ..
I read this awesome quote by the awesome Kara Goucher.
This is how I feel about running today.
---------------------------------------
That's the thing about running your greatest runs are rarely measured by racing success. They are moments in time when running allows you to see how wonderful your life is.

3 hours later

How are you going to reward yourself after this week ? 

This is how I reward myself for making all my kids camps on time. Making dinner 5 night in a row and having a clean house. 

This morning running on the coast was nice. The weather was perfect running weather ..Very little sun. I did not feel great but I felt good. The last three miles I played the let me just make it to that corner game.  You know the head game that goes like this.. I just need to run to that tree and I will almost be done game. It made it more interesting  and 30 minutes later I was done…
I hope you got your run in this morning ? DO you get tired of running in the same spot ? I don't I like the repletion .
Happy Miles..

Early Morning Run

I got out the door by 6 am..Did I hear a small cheer..
Well Thank You:)
 I feel very proud myself. The best part was how quite it is outside. I also love morning weather . God created it for runners. I saw a couple walkers but no other runners. I listened to Dave of course and took my time. I was not in a hurry I was having my time with the road.
 Day 1 done.
 I got my run on super early no excuses.
Wish me luck I have a 30 mile weekend ahead of me. One thing is for sure I will be going to bed early..Have a wonderful weekend and may all your miles be heavenly.

My Motivation Path

Here we go.
So my brain has been wrapped around what I can do help myself find more balance. I came up with a couple things and I wanted to share them with you.

1. The first thing is I keep a log and a journal. I love to write things down and when I don't feel like doing it is when my soul needs me to write it down the most. For me the key to writing things down is I love writing what happened but I always try to end my notes with what I want to happen the next day and I write something positive. 

2. I need to dream more. Yes I need to vision what I want and dream about it. Lately during my runs I am thinking about what I need to get done after my runs. Driving and feeding my kids good food is always on my mind. I need to go to my happy place and just dream. I read somewhere that dreams and fantasies are the the language of visions.They show you what you are and help you see whats  most important.. The dreaming the visions help you and the universe set your dreams in motion. 

3. Make a new vision board…

4.This is huge I need to get up early and go for a run. Instead of putting of and waiting to see if and when I can make time to do it I need to do like Nike says.. Just Do it

I need to run what I can in the morning and if I need to get more miles in later than I will. I think getting up early and making myself do something hard will help me balance the rest out. That's how I work if make it easy then its not a challenge and I don't want it but if its hard I work for it then I want it. Don't judge it is what it is.

5. The most important of them all…Work with what you have. This is huge . Make the best of what is right here in front of me.. Work hard.  Make it good and make it special..

#Running with a baby

Hello and I am back. I learned a couple lessons in the past few weeks . Lessons the universe taught me by kicking my ass. I was way to excited or maybe I am learning to just chill and not be over zealous . I am fallowing a training guide to get me to the big race.
 Fire trail 50 miler
 I found the training schedule I am fallowing here. Ultra Ladies
I have been doing more than is asked and I am tired so I have decided to stick to what it says. I am still trying to figure out how to balance 4 kids and driving and dinner and running. I don't want  to let what I feel is my responsibility slip because I am running or better said tired from running. I do a-lot of driving from Swim team to Jr Life guards and even baby Jack goes swimming 3 times a week. I can honestly say that because of all the activities that are going on and that are really important to my kids and me well all of those things make running even that more important. The more I sit the more I want to run. I am super blessed to have a baby that either loves the movement of the stroller or just loves chilling as his mom pushes him. I love the time that Jack and I spend going and coming. I also found something he just loves I used to listen to music on my phone now he listens to Baby Einstein as I push him. The last half mile is up hill so I try to push him as fast as I can ( doesn't mean its fast ) Jack just started clapping when I push him up the last hill and that makes me smile.
So I guess the biggest thing right now is finding a way to manage my energy so I have enough to go around. When you have 3 teenagers at home during summer taking a nap when the baby does is not an option so I need to figure out what is… I am very happy with this little adventure I am taking and like they say baby steps..

Running Ramblings

I had a slow week. I had a lot to do but my motivation was just slow. I have my note book out and I am figuring out the MOJO part of this that I need to get back now. I did my 10 mile run for today and I had that moment or I should say moments during my run when everything was perfect. You know that moment when everything feels so good that part of you wishes that moment would just last forever. That moment when you feel you could run forever and ever. I had that feeling today and it was pretty much all I needed to put my head back in the game and stay on track for my big race.. there are so many times that I just need to put how I feel aside and just get the work done. The one thing about running is I never regret a long run. Never Ever

I believe ...

Showing up

The showing up game. It becomes a challenge day after day to show up . I play little games with myself that help me get there. I believe the part about running that I love is that you pick a goal and put in lots of running , cross training, good sleep and then you show up and hopefully you do well because you put in the work. I am in the middle of training for my first 50 miler and so along the way you need to run a couple marathons so last night I was looking for some trail marathons because the 50 miler is on trail. It would probably be good to do some trail work right ? So there I was with big thoughts going through my mind. You can do this G . You will find the long run you need and you show up and run it. Then guess what happened…. I found one. Its only an hour away and all I could think was OH SH T…  I thought I would be excited but what  happened is I  got a huge knot in my tummy.
 I didn't sign up because all I could think was G you can not run that far.
What is up with this voice in my head. How many times do I do this. I guess everybody does it and if you are reading this and you don't then congratulations …You are amazing. So what I am learning is that I feel when I grow is when I show up and conquer stuff I am scared off.  This running thing is helping me more courageous and I am able to look at that gremlin and say GO AWAY>> I am going to do this thing you say I can't because I know I can… It makes me feel a little like a have a super power and that is showing up super power..Showing up for me...