Day 334

I put off my 30 minutes until the end of the day. I planned on a walk during The Biggest Loser, but considering the motivational nature of the show, I found myself doing a slow (5.2 mph) run. I'm having trouble with motivation lately though! I'm not sure how I'm feeling about the place I'm at this far into the challenge...I guess when this all started, I thought I'd be in much better shape and running with ease now! My motivation and ability to run has definitely ebbed and flowed this year!

day 334

A walk on the treadmill while the whole house napped. Today is the one year anniversary (I like to call it "kidneyversary") of Greg's kidney donation surgery. I thought a lot about the phrase "last year at this time..." An experience we'll never forget!

Happy Trails,

Jessy

Day 333

We got outside first thing this morning when the temperature was tolerable enough to just wear hoodies! Just as we were getting back, though, the wind kicked up and you could feel the chill! Talk about perfect timing, and now I'm looking forward to a naptime filled with coffee, Christmas music, and Christmas card making/ordering! :)

day 333

Ok friend. The last few months (since August, really!) I have been lacking in the motivation department. I'm tired of half-heartedly doing this challenge. I know, it seems kinda late to be coming to this conclusion. So, with 32 days left, I have come full circle & started the Couch to 5K program once again.

Today was work out one. The difference this time around is my speed. I will be focusing much more on that. After the end of my first eight weeks of Cto5K my top speed was 5.7mph. As I ran today my walking intervals were done at 4mph & my running intervals were done between 6 & 6.2 mph. Finished a total of 2.27 miles.

I have faith in this program. It helped me get a PR once before. I'm glad to be doing it again (I think). I have hope that it will bring me into the new year with a pep in my step & hopefully with renewed faith & motivation for something bigger & better!

Happy trails,

Jessy

Day 332

Another day in the 50s today, but WINDY!!! I decided to head outside for a run since I have A LOT of extra calories to be torching after two T-day celebrations! Better try and blast off those extra pounds before we venture south for Christmas where I'll again want to gorge myself on all the yumminess!! Unfortunately, between the wind and a not so awesome mental-state, I stopped and started running more times than I can count! Oh well, it still had to burn more calories than a boring treadmill walk!

day 332

The temps weren't that bad today but that wind was a killer! Jack made the comment, "I'm not ready for this Nebraska wind!" I couldn't agree more! ;) Fortunately we had a birthday party at the Ager Indoor Play Center today. I didn't really know anyone at the party so I had a good excuse to walk laps for 30 minutes around the play structure. Bonus, the kids came home wiped out!

Happy trails,

Jessy

Day 331

Yay, yay, yay for sunshine and decent temperatures today!! I took my big boys for a walk/run/bike ride through the park today with a detour to the playground. We had the place to ourselves, so nobody had to see me looking like a dweeb as I kept circling the playground as the boys happily played! :) This time outside with these two cuties just made me happy!!

day 331

This morning was my last check-in/blood draw for the Harris Labs study. Yay! It was freezing this morning but by the time I got home the weather was perfect! We threw open the windows to clear our the stuffiness in the house and after naps had a great walk with the kids! I wish it would stay like this all winter!

Happy trails,

Jessy

day 330

It turned out to be a great day weather-wise! We loaded up the whole crew and spent 5 hours walking around the Omaha Zoo. My feet & legs were so tired at the end of the day. At one point Nora sat down beside me, took off her shoes, and asked if I would rub her feet. Funny girl! When I asked her to rub mine she said, "No. Well, maybe after some icecream." :)

Happy trails,

Jessy

Day 330

Back to the treadmill during naptime where I watched a much more tolerable Husker game!! Go Big Red! :)

day 329

Happy Thanksgiving! So thankful for your friendship, your encouragement, and your willingness to squeeze into my itty-bitty kitchen for dinner! I had a great walk with you even though I couldn't feel my ears. :)

Happy trails,

Jessy

Day 329

Today I'm thankful that our beautiful families got to spend Thanksgiving together and that you are crazy enough to go with me for a freezing cold walk!!
Happy Thanksgiving!! I truly am thankful for the amazing friend I have in you!!!

day 328

walking...trying not to freeze!

happy trails,

jessy

Day 328

I got on the treadmill this evening and watched The Biggest Loser: Where are they now? on TV.

day 327

Thanks for going kickboxing with me. I'd say we look pretty good after all those stinkin' push ups & round kicks!

Happy trails,

Jessy

Day 327

So, today I raked leaves, did my 30 minutes via Wii Fit races with the boys, and kickboxed with you! I think it was a calorie-torching kinda day, and mixing things up was definitely what I needed!! It sure did feel good to kickbox again after all these years!!! Thanks for the invite!

day 326

My parents are in town so even though Greg was working I still got to go kickboxing! Yay! Thanks Mom & Dad! :)

Happy trails,

Jessy

Day 326

Back to the treadmill at naptime...

Day 325

40 More Days!!!!

It was supposed to hit 50 degrees today, so I planned to run outside during naptime. I stuck to my plan, but the weather certainly didn't cooperate...brrrr!!! Noel was awesome and joined me for a freezing run...good thing I just purchased gloves and a headband to cover up my ears and hands!

day 325

Wow! 40 days? That's crazy! Still not feeling the best after my weekend. Just walked laps around the park while the kids played...mostly for survival so I didn't freeze! :)

Happy trails,

Jessy

day 324

It's my last weekend at Harris Labs! Yay! The meds gave me a horrible headache this weekend. So I didn't walk. :( Didn't do much of anything other than sit around and sleep!

Happy trails,

Jessy

Day 324

As we were getting ready to put the boys down for bed, I realized I hadn't done my 30 minutes yet. Usually Saturday is our day for family walks, but it's cold, so that didn't happen!! :P So, after my part of the bedtime routine was over, I hopped on the treadmill for a walk as I watched the trainwreck of a Husker game on TV.

day 323

another day, another slow but steady walk.

happy trails,

jessy

Day 323

As soon as Craig got home from work, I was out the door into the brisk evening for a couple laps around the park...a really great way to begin the weekend!

day 322

I'm feeling the winter blahs! I need some serious motivation!

Happy trails,

Jessy

Day 322

Guess what I did today? That's right...I walked on the treadmill! :P

day 321

another day of walking. my "study restrictions" start tonight at 5 so i was hoping to find the motivation to run before then. just didn't happen.

happy trails,

jessy

Day 321

Treadmill again...blah!

day 320

I finally made it back to kickboxing tonight. It was good to be back. I didn't walk or run today, but I figure I can count this. Oh and I'll also count climbing five flights of stairs at the parking garage while carrying my 35 pound two year old. My calves were burnin'!

Happy trails,

Jessy

Day 320

I took a much needed walk out in the sunshine with my boys!

Day 319

Another exciting 30 minutes with my dear treadmill today. On a brighter note, today is the first day I noticed my right knee feeling better! Hopefully I'll be back to running soon!

day 319

I managed to drag myself to the treadmill while the kids napped. The first 15 minutes were incredibly mind numbing. But I got absorbed in a magazine and ended up walking 45 minutes at a speed of 4 & an incline of 4. I'm so glad I did it! :) Since I'm in this medical study my days to do any serious exercising are only Mondays & Tuesdays. I'll be glad when I have a little more freedom during the week! I'm feeling stuck in a rut.

While catching up on Biggest Loser last night Bob challenged us to do 50 jumping jacks, 25 pushups, & 25 squats during the commercial (which we did). So this evening I did that again while the kids were happily playing. The kids saw what I was doing & decided to get in on the action. They were so stinkin' cute! When we got done Grace said, "Wow! I never knew exercising could be so much fun!" I love setting a healthy example for my kids.

Happy trails,

Jessy

day 318

Another day, another walk.

Happy trails,

Jessy

Day 318

A walk on the treadmill...most exciting 30 minutes of my day! Ha!!

day 317

Being in "harris labs" means being a couch potato. Big time! The food is not the healthiest (hello fried chicken & strawberry pop) and we are encouraged to do nothing but sit. It was freezing out so I didn't get out into the tiny courtyard they have, but I did walk some laps inside the building. Definitely not anything to elevate my heart rate, but at least I'm moving. :)

Happy trails,

Jessy

Day 317

A family walk turned bad quickly when Jude attempted to walk in his oversized winter coat...he busted his lip pretty bad! Poor sweetie! :-( So, Daddy and Jude stayed home with the ice while Dax, Ian , and I walked with our neighbors...thankfully no one else got hurt! ;)

day 316

Checking back into "harris labs" for my 3rd weekend. Luckily I got a walk in before I had to check-in!

Happy trails,

Jessy

Day 316

What a cold, rainy (turned snowy) day!!! Uck!! I wasn't even close to motivated to get my 30 minutes in today. I finally got on the treadmill at about 8:30 this evening once the kids were down! I'm not ready for winter in Nebraska!

day 315

Happy 15 year "dating" anniversary to Greg & me! And happy Veterans Day! :) I'd say after this many days of walking/running you and I are veterans at this challenge! :)

Happy trails,

Jessy

Day 315

50 more days to go!

Oh man was I ecstatic this morning when I realized it was a few minutes after 7:00 a.m. when I woke up because of the boys and not 6:15 because of my alarm clock set so I could get up and go run! First of all, it was a ROUGH night (thank you Jude), and second of all, it was COLD!
I was more than happy to enjoy a late morning walk/bike ride with my boys! It ended up being a beautiful morning. It's amazing how much less ground you cover when walking with boys pretending their bikes are garbage trucks stopping constantly to pick up "garbage", but how fun to watch them pretend together! :)

day 314

hmmm, i'm behind on blogging. just another walk today.

happy trails,

jessy

Day 314

Challenge complete!! Now I'm going to have to walk for at least 5 days straight because my knee is none too happy with me! Time for lots of ice and ibuprofen! :)

day 313

took the dog and the kids to the holmes park dog run today. it was a bit crazy, but good to get my walk in someplace new. they have some nice trails there!

happy trails,

jessy

Day 313

It is wonderful to have it getting light early in the morning...it works out well for morning runs, and the temperatures have been great! I am really enjoying just finding a new neighborhood to run around for 30 minutes each day! My right knee is starting to yell at me though! One more day!!

day 312

walking...feeling like a lazy bum this week. you are amazing. i love your 5 day running challenge! keep it up!

happy trails,

jessy

Day 312

3 days down; 2 to go!! I think I can, I think I can! :)

day 311

pretty much a stroll today. i am soooo sleepy!

happy trails,

jessy

Day 311

Day 2 of my challenge...ah, Daylight Savings Time...YAWN!! Someday the boys will appreciate the extra hour of SLEEP, but not today! I made it out for a late morning run...another beautiful day! I picked a new neighborhhood to explore and ran until my watch was at 30 minutes!

day 310

walking...

happy trails,

jessy

Day 310

These beautiful Fall days just keep showing up and I'm LOVING it. I was actually excited to get outside for a run today. I decided to take that excitement and turn it into a challenge for myself to keep going with the running! I find I lose my motivation to run so much easier if I don't have a race to train for! So, here goes nothing...I'm going to run 5 days straight and run for 30 minutes without stopping. That is 5-10 more minutes than my normal runs.
Today I crossed the park to run in the neighborhood on the other side. I started my watch and that's all I went by. Distance/speed is not my focus right now. I couldn't map my run if I wanted to because I weaved in and out of streets and have no rememberance of the route I took. Pretty enjoyable, but the last 10 minutes was a struggle...my body isn't used to it! We'll see what the next 4 days brings! Can I do it? :)

day 309

walking...

happy trails,

jessy

Day 309

Back to the treadmill at naptime again...online t.v. helped to pass each of those 30 minutes...why is the treadmill so boring to me anymore? I used to prefer the treadmill over running or walking outside pre-kids, but that was at the gym...maybe that's the difference?

day 308

Wow! We are getting so close to the end of this challenge! What are we going to do to celebrate? It was chilly today! I definitely haven't missed that Nebraska wind! On a recent bike ride we discovered a little park not too far down the road from us. We headed back there today and while the kids played I walked (mostly out of survival so I didn't freeze)!

Happy trails,

Jessy

Day 308

I was planning on another naptime treadmill walk, but then Dax asked me if we could go for a walk/bike ride after lunch. Perfect! It was chilly and windy, but the sun was out and a few of the trees were still holding onto their colorful leaves. We had to stop a couple times for some photo opps! :)

day 307

Me too! Can I copy & paste your post? ;)

Happy trails,

Jessy

Day 307

Another day; another walk on the treadmill.

Day 306

I was excited to be able to get outside for a run today...I'm not liking all the treadmill workouts lately at all! I exercised my body and my right to vote by running to my polling place...I killed two birds with one stone and it felt good! When I got home, I challenged Craig to do the same...he took my challenge! :)

A great day for a walk & a great day to vote!We headed out to our polling site on foot and got a great walk in! Home for a light supper & then I was off for more kickboxing. I'm super tired!

Happy trails,

Jessy

Day 305

The boys and I had a nice walk through the neighborhood and the park this morning...it really was beautiful! I'm not looking forward to the cold weather...it's coming though! :(

day 305

I'm not really motivated to run. I think I'm ok with that although I know the benefits of regular running are HUGE! I have a few more weeks of the medical study so I think I'll just be walking for the month of November and not feel guilty about it. I walked on the treadmill while the kids napped today. Did an incline of 4 at 4.2mph for 30 minutes.

I just got back from kickboxing too! Whew! That REALLY wipes me out. But what a good tired feeling it is!

Happy trails,

Jessy