RunnerBox May 2015

YES!!!  I got my RunnerBox for May 2015 so I thought I would share with you what I got.  I have already eaten/traded some things so I had to steal a few pictures from the website but hey that's life!

There's my box! 

First up some products from a company called Hydrate!  They sent 4 different flavors of drink mixes.  These are basically liked a powdered sports drink you mix with water. They also sent 2 different gels that can be used before, during, or after a run. I did try the orange flavor of the drink mix and it was pretty good!

Next up is a "buttered oats shooter"  from a brand called Rani's. It looks like granola to me so I'll be anxious to try that on some yogurt.  Also pictured is a Fruigees fruit snack.  This reminds me of the kids applesauce or toddler snacks. I haven't eaten that either but it seems like something I will put in my purse for emergencies. And last but NOT least is the bumble bar! They sent two and I already ate one.  It was AMAZING!  It's not like any other bar I've ever had.  It was actually made of sesame seeds.  It was a little crunchy, a little chewy, & a lot delicious!  I can't wait to eat the other one!

These are two of the most interesting items to me. First up the IPS Egg white chips! The card says they are made with healthy egg white protein for 6 grams of protein per serving and half the fat of fried chips! I haven't tried these yet (as I'm a little afraid to) but I'll let you know! Something I did try and didn't care for (maybe the flavor) was the Run gum.  This is a gum developed by an Olympian to help give you a boost.  It says it's zero calorie, sugar free and gives you 50mg of caffeine, 20gm of Taurine & B-Vitamins! I tried the fruit flavor and was not impressed.  I will try the mint especially on a long run as I like to chew gum to keep me focused. I will report on that one also! 

Udderly smooth is a body cream to use on areas prone to chafing prior to running. I'm a huge fan of body glide so maybe I'll give udderly smooth a try next time! Lasting smiles chap stick is a pretty run of mill chap stick but it does give back.  With every 1000 balms sold it funds one cleft lip surgery.  So that's a great reason to check them out! And a bottle opener for your keys!  Who doesn't need one of those?! (People who drink wine!  That's who!  Where's my bottle stopper? or wine glass? hmm?!)

Go Tap is a kinesiology tape used to help with join and muscle pain.  I have use something similar in the past when my knee was acting up. I may just save this! The ICE3 (Ice-Cubed) is a body cooling towelette. Basically after (or during) a long run you can wipe yourself down with this and it will cool you down. I tend to use baby wipes but will give this a try! 

The Body Armor super drink . . . I drank! I needed some hydration so I tried it.  I got the strawberry banana flavor and it was pretty good.  Again not something I would normally drink or buy but it was good to try! 

And this product I traded away!  I know I'm horrible I didn't even try it but K wanted it and I took her gum so hey! But I've tried things like this and they were ok.  Again things like this tend to get stuck in my purse for emergencies! 

So there it is!  The May Runner Box.  I'm always amazed at how much stuff you get for $20!!  I love trying the new products and seeing what is out there that I haven't even thought of (cooling towelettes!).  If you want to get your own runnerbox you can click HERE and sign up! They also have CycleBox and TriBox if you or someone you know are interested in one of those! You can do a subscription (every other month) or just a one time box as a gift!  It's really a great company!  Go check them out!

Love, Lacey 

DISCLAIMER . I am not sponsored by RunnerBox.  I pay for the subscription myself and all views and opinions are my own!

Cross Training?

When I started running, I did it just for fun.  My goal was just to finish a 5k.  I was 3 months postpartum (and c-section) after Miss V and I remember it was a very slow (somewhere around 48?) and painful race.  I didn't have much faith in myself.  I had run a fair amount but didn't really know about training or pacing.  

Jump ahead ALMOST 6 years and I have grown so much as a person and as a runner.  First of all I call myself a runner.  I have run numerous 5ks, a few 4 mile runs, a hand full of 10ks, & 4 half marathons. Second I KNOW what it's like to train.  I know what it looks and feels like to be out running 3-4 times a week.  I know that running 9 or 10 miles to train for a 5k is something that my former running coach told me is important.  Third I also understand nutrition and how important it is to running.  Also hydration!  I have always struggled with getting enough water and correct nutrition.  But as a runner I understand (even if I don't always follow it) how important those things are.  

One thing that I have been told over and over and see on a lot on the running pages I follow is cross training.  Cross training is basically any exercise that you do besides running.  A lot of runners swim or bike or do weight training.  I haven't ever been too serious about cross training.  I have done some weight training but never gotten too serious about it.  Until this year!  The year of the marathon means there are NO EXCUSES! So this week my running partner Kellie and I decided enough is enough and we went to our local high school to sign up for swimming.  Our high school is lucky enough to have an indoor pool with lanes and a dive well.  We decided that we would swim once a week and keep setting goals for ourselves and really get serious about cross training.  

So you know I got serious and bought a swim cap! I wanted to look official! Do I look like a swimmer?! 

Hey we may not to be the BEST swimmers or go very far but you know what? We gave it our all and were still smiling after!  We did 10 laps (down and back) with varying strokes.  We both felt like we had a great time and got a good workout.  We decided to calculate how far we went . . . are you ready?  We swam . . . a total of .284 miles.  YEP!  Just over a quarter of a mile.  It's not much but that's farther than I've done before.  I've set a new goal for this weeks swim so we will see how this week goes!  I feel like I need some swim goggles because of my contacts but maybe I'll just try to go without my contact. 

Watch out world!  We are not messing around!  We are ready to get in shape and tackle this marathon!

Love, Lacey

Post Workout Routine

I thought I would take you through my post workout routine. It can be a bit different depending on the time of way I workout and what I have going on. But for the most part this is how my post workouts go!

First thing I do post workout is be thankful that it's over! After that I take my selfie! I gotta prove that worked out.  Did I mention that it usually takes me 10 pictures to get the "perfect" selfie? Yep!  I take some funny ones, serious ones, and all different angles.  Here is the "my booty is on FIRE" selfie. 

Next up is my post workout shake/smoothie. I like to get protein & water in my system ASAP!  So here is what I use!  First I start with about a half a cup of this berry blend from Costco.  I would highly recommend it if you haven't tried it before.  It is great for snacks or shakes or anything else you want to use it for.  The kids ask to have bowls of it, frozen, for snack and I've often done the same.  But I mostly use it in shakes and I love it!

Then I put in a scoop of protein powder.  This is the one I prefer.  It is a plant based protein shake.  I am by no means a vegetarian but I love the way this tastes and how it treats my body.  I would definitely recommend it!  They also have a vanilla chai flavor if you are just going to drink it with water that is AMAZING!  You can find it HERE or at a local health food store.  I actually get mine at Earth Fare. 

I have to blend mine in two batches because I use the little ninja chopper.  I also throw in a banana as you can see.  So I throw all of those things in with some water and blend away. 

I pour my mixture into a quart jar and put on a lid. I also need a straw so I throw one of those in.  It's not hard to make or rocket science.  That's just how I make mine. After I make my shake I take my shower and get on with life! That's pretty much how my post workout routine goes.  How about you?  Do you do the same thing each time? Do you have things that you HAVE to do post workout?

Love, Lacey

Getting back into training mode!

After a crazy couple of weeks I'm back!!  I have been running and cross training regularly the last two weeks.  So I'll share with you what I've been doing and then I promise to be back to regular posting!

I started out last week with good intentions.  I was going to go outside and run but the windchill was -10!  I was not about to go out in that.  So I did a couple easy miles on the mill.  They were anything but EASY!  I was struggling to finish because I was bored. But I sucked it up and did it!

Then on Thursday I did some speed work.  I did a little bit different speed work than usual but it was fun so I may do that again.  I basically did a warm up then .25 at 7 and then .10 at 3 to recover.  I did that 8 times and then a cool down.  

On Saturday I did some long slow miles.  These aren't so bad outside but on the treadmill these are HORRIBLE!  It took everything in me not to speed up and get it done but I kept going and got it done!

Now onto this week! On Monday I did another easy 2 miles.  I had to speed up at the end to get it done.  

I have been using Piyo as a cross training. Most have not been too bad but the one on Tuesday was called sweat and it was HARD!!  I definitely felt out of shape!

On Wednesday I did a treadmill workout. It is the workout above.  I didn't think it was going to be as hard as it was.  It's all slower miles so you are walking most of the time but having the incline up so high you are really working to stay on the treadmill and keep up.  It made me think of hiking which was a good way to get my mind off of how much I was sweating! And I can tell you that today (Thursday)  I am SORE! I will definitely be using this one again!

It feels so good to get back into training mode.  I just can't wait for the weather to break so I can actually go outside and log some real miles! I'm so ready for this year and the races that I'll run, the friends that I'll meet, and the growth that I will have from all of this!

Love, Lacey

Choosing a Marathon Training Plan . . .

Choosing a marathon training plan is a bit like trying to find the person you are going to marry.  You look at LOTS of plans and try to decide which one will work best for you.  But really can you know if a plan is going to work or how it feels and fits into your schedule until you really get into it?  I'm currently looking at 4 different plans. Each has some thing that appeals to me. So here are the plans I'm looking at!

The first is one I have used for half marathon training. It's the Marathon Rookie.  They have some great plans and I think they take you up easily.  He has plans for all distances so I think it's a great site.  My problem with his plans is that they want you to run 4 days a week and some serious miles in during the week. My training schedule this year will look a little different from years past because of when I'm going to try to fit in my long runs.  But something about running 8 miles on a Wednesday, during the summer, when I have 3 kids at home doesn't seem like it would work.  Although training is what you make of it.  You will only get out of training what you put in!

The next one I'm looking at and have heard lots of good things about is Hal Higdon marathon 3 training. A friend of mine ran her first marathon last year and used this.  She said it was great.  It is only 3 days a week with lots of cross training. She said she felt strong and ready come race day.  This one has lots of potential my only fear is that I stink when it comes to cross training.  I have good intentions but I just don't have the follow through? I want to, but I don't know?!?

The next one is from a book called Run less, Run faster. Again I have heard lots of really good things about this book & training program. I haven't got a chance to get my hands on the actual book to check it out.  But its premise is to run less and do more speed work. Which I seem to really like speed work.  So I'm excited to get this book and check out it.

Last but not least is another book/program called Train Like a Mother.  I have briefly looked over this program and it seems to have lots of good things to it.  The one thing I like is that there is a symbol next to certain runs that means that if you have to you can skip it.  The thing about this program is that it is written by mothers so they understand how busy and crazy life can get.  They also have the "finish it" or "kill it" options for each distance.

Have you trained for a marathon?  What program did you use?  How did you like it? I'm so ready to just pick a plan and move on!!

Love, Lacey

Look Who I Met!!

I am absolutely blessed to be apart of our local track club.  They put on amazing races and have the best people! One of the best parts is each year they put on a Track Club Banquet.  All the runners you have been chasing all year come together in our dress clothes (which is very confusing to see runners in non running clothes!) and celebrate this amazing sport and our group.  Last year I met the AMAZING Bart Yasso (read about it here) and so I was just as excited to go this year.

Just like last year K was my date! And just like last year we had SO much fun!!

And just like last year they had an amazing speaker come to tell us about her running journey (we all have one) and to inspire us!  This years speaker was the AMAZINGLY inspiring Lauren Fleshman!  She has a new training journal and book all in one that I am SO excited to start using!  I told her that I was going to use it for my marathon training and that she has inspired me to really make it fun and go for it!  She told us how when she first went pro all she did was eat, sleep, & run.  And that she forgot to have fun & burnt out.  So she reminded us to make sure we make running fun! She was a super down to earth person!  Really sweet and funny! We happen to be the same age and both mother runners so I think I connected with her differently than a lot of the teenage runners there.  But she couldn't have been more motivating and encouraging!

If you are going on a running journey of any kind I would recommend her book!  Here it is on Amazon (no I don't get paid to say that!).   I had the honor of having her sign mine which makes it all the more special!  But it really seems like the kind of journal that will inspire you to push through those "bad" runs and keep moving forward!

This was a great way to start off my "Year of Running"!!  I can't wait to start sharing my runs and adventures with you!  I hope you are excited too!

Love, Lacey

Biggest Goal in 2015

So I sat down at the end of last year and wrote out some goals that I wanted to achieve for 2015.  As you can see I really went wild and wrote a lot.  Ok maybe this was the before shot but still this picture makes me laugh. Sitting down to write out goals always makes me nervous.  What if I don't met my goals? What if I set goals that scare me?  What if people think my goals are dumb or easy? Well one of the major goals on my list involved signing up for a big race!  On New Years eve on the stroke of midnight I wasn't kissing Mr. J, I was on my phone signing up for a race (gotta save some cash!). So here it is for the first time ever!  I'm admitting that I have sign up for & will be completing THIS . . . 

On November 7, 2015 I will be running 26.2 miles and completing my first marathon.  I am scared and excited and every other emotion possible! 

There is my motto!  The year of running.  Not just distance but faster pace.  I WILL hit my PR in my half this year. And then I will go on to conquer the marathon and then from there who knows? I have one other race on my radar for the year but it's going to have to wait until after the marathon to see how I feel. 

This year my blog will probably be mostly about running!  I will still share my family and my life and my love of randomness.  But I think you will see a shift this year to mostly running & fitness.  I want to share the ups and downs of marathon training.  I want to share this process with you all of you.  I want to give you an honest look at the life of a wife, mother, runner. I hope you will come along for this wild and crazy ride.  I hope you will encourage me in the down times and cheer with me in the good times.  I love you all and can't wait to share SO many runfies (running seflie), shoefies (shoe selfie) and other random loves with you!!

Love, Lacey

My First Run of 2015

I FINALLY busted out my running shoes and went on my first run of 2015!  I went out with a great runner friend of mine, The Sweaty Yeti.  We just did a nice and easy 3 miles.  I let him lead the pace since he had done some weights and squats the day before and his legs were feeling it.  But it was SO good to get out and just run off some emotions and shoot the breeze with a friend!

Have you been out yet this year? How are you feeling?  Have you set any running goals yet?

Love, Lacey

The Huff Recap 2014

Have you missed me?!  Geez life got crazy with the holidays and I honestly couldn't find 5 min to myself.

But I'm BACK!!!!!  And I'm going to give you a quick recap of The Huff that I ran in mid-December and then show you a really cool monthly subscription box for runners!!

So remember when I signed up for a 10 mile trail race in the middle of winter?  You can read about it here!  Well  . . . .

I DID IT!!!!  I ran 10 (it was actually 11) miles on trails in the winter!  The course wasn't so bad.  Lots of hills for Indiana but no water, not a lot of mud, and no snow. 

This is one of my favorite pictures from the race.  That's me on the right laughing.  The guy on the left is my friend "The Yeti".  I call him the sweaty Yeti.  He is so funny and kept me entertained for the first 6 miles.

Here are Kellie, The Yeti, & I before the race.  There was no time after the race for a picture as we were all frozen. But we finished and I might just be in love with trails!! I will DEFINITELY be doing this race again!

Love, Lacey

Running Adventure Clue #3

The third and final clue before the reveal on Thursday.  Are you excited?  Have you figured it out yet?!

THIS is where we are staying!!  Can you believe it?! It's like a dream come true!  I'm SO excited.  Do you see the beach? I'm totally going to get my toes in there!  Do you know where this is? Have you been there?

Go ahead and make your guess in the comments below! All will be revealed THURSDAY!!

Love, Lacey

Running Adventure Clue #2

Here is the average temperatures for where I live. We are traveling to our big adventure in November. So as you can see the average temperature here in November is somewhere around 40F. 

These are the average temperatures for the place we are traveling to.  As you can see the average temperature in November there is 79!!  I think I'll have to pack some shorts!

Have you guessed it yet? Are you getting excited for my big adventure?! What is the average temperature where you live in November?

Love, Lacey

Running Adventure Clue #1

That is one of my favorite running quotes by one of my favorite runners!  I had the absolute privilege of meeting the incredible Bart Yasso this past January.  You can read about it HERE. It really was such an honor to meet him and he is super inspiring!  If you haven't already, I would HIGHLY recommend reading his book "My Life on the Run" .  Even if you aren't a runner I think you will be inspired by him and the stories he tells are really funny.  Like the time he was the race marshall for a race in a nudist colony! Really funny!

ANWAYS!  I love this quote and it has stuck with me this year especially.  I had set some pretty big running goals for myself and self doubt and my mental game are things that hold me back.  I keep thinking of myself as the fat kid in gym class.  The one that got picked last and no one wanted on their team.  I don't blame them!  I was NOT good at sports and I wasn't fast at anything (except talking!).  But for some reason that "fat kid" seems to stick in my mind.  I don't believe that I can be fast or good at any sport even a sport that I absolutely love and work my booty off at.  But this quote reminds me that I am NOT that fat kid in gym class.  And that the sport that I love can take me so much far than just down the street.  I have already gained so much from running!  I have gone on adventures and run in places I would never have gone to if not for my love of running.

But I have signed up for something SUPER exciting!  And I want to do a few posts with clues leading up to my big reveal.  Now some of you probably already know because we are friends in real life and I have talked about it on my person facebook page.  But I'm so excited that I wanted to share with you my blog family and wanted to try to make it fun for you!

So the first clue to my next big running adventure is that I'm going with my favorite running partner, Kellie.  And we have to fly to get there! There are your clues!  The biggest is the flying!  I love driving and I would drive almost anywhere but on this particular adventure we have to fly or we wouldn't never have time to do everything that we want to do.

I will give you 3 clues and will do my big reveal on October 16!  So keep coming back and watch this space.  See if you can figure it out before I tell you!  Let me a comment and guess what it is!

Love, Lacey

Half Marathon #3 Recap

My very exciting and busy half marathon weekend began with a great shake out run with Mr. S.  The Fall Festival has a kids marathon, senior marathon, 4 mile run/walk, 10k, and half marathon.  The kids & senior marathons go all summer with the final mile being on part of the race course and ends at the same finish line!  It's very exciting for everyone to see these littles run.  Mr. S. is not a sporty kid (he is super smart!) but he wanted to run this and I'm proud of him for sticking with it.  He got to run the last little bit of the race with one of his great friends.  His friend happens to be one of my best friends little guy and then she & I were running the half together the next day. It was so neat to see our little guys run together.  The best part was when Mr. S reached up, patted his friend on the back, and said "It's just you and me!".  I almost cried! 

The next morning I got up at the crack of dawn & got ready for my big race!  My pre-race breakfast always consists of a cup of black coffee and a gf cupcake from a local bakery.  The cupcake I had before this week was PUMPKIN!!  It tasted like a pumpkin roll and it was AMAZING!!!!!!! In case I haven't told you I had a goal to set a PR (person record). I wanted to run a 2:20 half.  Not super fast but it is fast for me! I read something once that said "Look in the mirror.  That is your only competition!".  I have taken that to heart.  I'm never going to run a sub 2 hr half.  I'm not super fast.  I have short legs and a mental block (which I'm working on).  But I'm ok with that!  All I can do is MY best and give it MY all!  So before I left my sweet kitty, Brady, gave me a good luck kiss!

And I was off.  I picked up Kellie and another friend of ours and we met up with the rest of our running group for our annual picture and a pre-race pump up! We then toed the line (or rather got in my corral towards the back) for a 8:20 am start time.  I decided to stick with the 2:20 pace group.  It would keep me focused on someone and I wouldn't have to watch my Garmin the entire time. I could just run and be happy.  For the first 10 miles everything went great!  My friend and I were chatting off and on and taking in the sights.  I was keeping up and feeling good. I don't know what happened at mile 10 but my body just started failing and then my mind told me to quit.  I think part of my problem was that I drank Gatorade during the run.  And that upset my stomach.  Somewhere around mile 11.5 I told my friend "Leave me"  but she wouldn't!  I felt extremely sick to my stomach. I had the same issue last year too.  So Gatorade on race day is a no for me! Miles 10-13 were extremely hard! I walked some and cried some and ran slowly. I struggled so badly through those last 3 miles.  So much so that my sweet bff laid hands on me to pray. I even stopped to hug (and cry on) another bff of mine!  

As soon as we turned the corner to go into the stadium (where the finish line was), I got it set in my mind that I was going to push to the end.  So I started to pray and point to Jesus and tell him it was for HIM! I pushed myself across that finish line with an official time of 2:24:54.

I may not have hit the 2:20 I was hoping for but I'm SO excited to have a PR.  I have done something that not everyone can say they have!  I have run my 3rd half marathon and set a PR.  My family and I went out that night to celebrate!  I will be back out there next year to get that elusive 220!!

Thank you to everyone who volunteered for this race!  This is an awesome race if you are in the area in Sept!  You MUST do it!  A HUGE thank you to Mr. J for the love and support while I trained for this.  Another HUGE thank you to my favorite running partner, Kellie, who constantly pushes me and cheers me on. I can't wait for our next adventure!  And THANK YOU to all of you for cheering me on and following me on this journey!  I can't wait to share with you all what my next running adventure will be!!

Love, Lacey

Out of my zone

The other day I signed up for a race that is outside of my comfort zone!!  I'm usually a road race 5k or 10k type of girl.  I like the weather to be nice so some time between May or June to Sept or Oct.  But earlier this year I did a trail run that I really liked!  Go read about it here! Kellie has talked to me about running The Huff for a few years. It's actually an utlra trail run that you can choose to do one loop (10 miles), the whole thing (30 miles), or a 3 man relay (which I still think would be fun!).

So I did it!  I signed up for the 10 miler.  Just to give you a taste of what I could be in for, here is the link to the registration site with some pictures.  And HERE is a video from a few years ago (including the above picture).  Oh and did I mention this race is on Dec 20?  And is in Northern Indiana?  If you don't know anything about Northern Indiana, you should know that it snows and is COLD!!!! (see the below picture!)

I have no idea why I'm doing this race other than it's supposed to be really fun and a good experience. I guess you never grow if you don't step out of your comfort zone right?! Look our Huff 2014 here I come!!

Love, Lacey

Last long run before the half

So for a few years I have had horrible toe issues.  My toes are pretty crooked and nasty and running doesn't help that. For some reason the shoes I have always used have decided to keep shrinking their toe box. Well as you can imagine it is not good for my toes.  So despite all my best efforts (toe socks, bandaids, lube, tape) I needed to abandon my usual shoes and get new ones just a few weeks before my first half of the year. I'm so thankful we have an amazing local running store that is full of really awesome people to help! I went to see my favorite sales guy and told him show me shoes with the widest toe boxes. He brought out 3 different ones for me to test out and these were the winners.  They are the Adidas  Supernova Sequence Boost 7.  I picked the bold pink color and used some bungee laces that I already had to lace them up.  

This was actually my second run in these shoes and so far so good.  The real test will be next summer when my feet get hot & sweaty. My feet tend to swell and I think that is part of the problem that there just was not enough room in my old shoes.  This run felt pretty good.  I felt a little sluggish but that really didn't have anything to do with my shoes. 

With only 1 week left until my first half of the year (I'm running two this year!) I feel pretty good.  I have a time in mind and I will do my best to hit it but if it doesn't happen it doesn't.  Now I'm not saying I won't be upset if it doesn't happen.  I'm a pretty competitive person and when I don't hit a goal it is NOT ok.  But as I learned last year (I bonked during my half big time!!) life goes on! I've done some things different in my training this year and have a friend that I'm hoping to run with to cheer her on and keep me moving.  Another great thing about this race is they offer pace groups for the different goal times.  So I will be settling in with a pace group and just keep moving! 

I love to finish off my long runs with an ice bath.  I know this is kind of a debated thing but I love it.  I don't know if it helps me recover any fast but I can tell you that nothing feels better after a really long hot run than a tub full of cold water and ice. I try to sit in there for 10 min and usually cruise facebook or instagram (go follow me on both!  I'm LoveLacey365 on both).  The time seems to go quickly and after that I jump in the shower.  

This week will be full of short easy runs, rest, and lots of carbs.  It's time to put my money where my mouth is so to speak and prove that all these miles and training runs have been worth it. That's the funny thing about distance running.  You set a goal to run a certain number of miles on race day. But what you don't think about is all the hours and miles you will put in getting to race day.  Those training miles and hours are the ones that define you. The mornings that you get up pre-dawn to fit in a long run before you leave on vacation. Or the nights that you put the kids in bed and then jump on the treadmill because you didn't have time during the day.  The miles and the hours of training often are the ones you remember.  I definitely remember my races but I have had some of the best runs and times of prayer in my life on just an average Tuesday run.  Life is kind of like that too isn't it? It's not how long you live but what you do with that life. Running is a lot like life and has taught me more about myself and about my life than I could have ever imagined. In 7 days I will be here writing my "race day recap" for you.  I pray that I get to tell you that I got the PR that I'm looking for. But if I don't, I have had some pretty amazing breakthroughs this year and will choose to be happy with those (after I cry and be upset). 

Love, Lacey

Running Recap 8/04 - 8/09

Hello!!  Good Morning!  I'm currently writing this at 7 am. Yes that is early for me. We have been sleeping in like crazy this summer but it's all coming to an end on Wednesday. I got up at my normal "school" time and woke up the boys.  Neither were very excited.  But I thought I would give you my run recap for this week!

I forgot to take a picture from my run on Monday. But I did find this inspirational picture from a girl I follow on instagram.  "amandajaks"  If you don't follow her, go do it, and tell her I sent you!  And if you don't follow me on instagram go find me!  It's LoveLacey365 . On Monday I ran my usual Monday miles with Kellie.  4 miles in 46:35 which is not too bad.  We don't really push too hard on Mondays we really just get out and enjoy. 

 Next up I did some speed work on Thursday. I decided to do a nice 4 mile progressive run. So I got on the treadmill and went for it.  I was pretty happy with this run other than it was HOT and the treadmill drains me mentally.  But it's all good training for my longer runs!

Anyone else drip sweat while they are on the treadmill? This is from my elbow?!  I'm not sure how but I sweat like a dude when I run on the mill.  Oh well.  That's just more strength (and another glass of wine) for me.

Saturday was to be a nice long run. It was supposed to be 11 miles so I fueled up with this AMAZING salad.  I couldn't get out until about 2 pm so I wanted to make sure I got a good breakfast & lunch. 

We had rented a couple movies Friday night and they needed to go back so I literally ran them back.  The store is only about half a mile or so from our house so it was just adding to my long run.  After this is where my run went downhill FAST!!  I went on my normal route but there was a really strong headwind.  At one point I was pushing as hard as I could and was only running a 11:30/12 min mile?!  That got really old really quickly and started to break me mentally.  Between the wind and the extremely hot sun I started to fade fast! At mile 3 (just a little over) I had to sit down under a little tree.  The one bad thing about my usual running route is that it is full sun. There are really no trees unless you go into some one's yard (which I may have done!). 

I stopped at around mile 5 to grab some water from Mr. J's grandparents. I was really spent by this point but I was at my turn around point (to head towards home) and I wasn't going to give up.  Well bless Mr. J's grandmother (who is English and just about the sweetest little thing ever!!) she called my father-in-law and told him that she thought he should go pick me up. He found me at mile 7.17 sitting down in some shade. He didn't really ask if I needed a ride, he basically told me to get in.  And he took me home while he told me all about his recent surgery. 

At first I was really upset that I had quit. I am not one to quit.  I usually would have run myself to death before I would quit. But after I got home and took a shower I realized that stopping my run was probably the best idea.  I'm pretty sure I would have had heat stroke if I would have continued. I was already having troubles moving, and when I got home my head started pounding.  I took a cool shower, got some food, and took a nap! I felt better physically after my nap but I'll be honest, I was still really mad that I quit.  I felt like I got a DNF (did not finish). It still bums me out to be honest. But I have to put my health first. I won't finish any run if I'm injured or recovering from heat stroke. Well I feel great now and am ready to tackle this weeks runs!!  

Hope you all had a great week!!

Love, Lacey