I'm BACK!

Ok, so it's been almost 5 months since my last post.  I'll be surprised to see if there is still anyone following my blog :) I've missed blogging and hope to be back!

There are a couple reasons why I decided to take an "unofficial" break the last few months.  First, there's a fine line of knowing what to share and what is too much.  I don't want to offend people or make people think that I'm going to write about EVERYTHING that happens in my life...some things are private and I don't want the entire world to know. Just like on Facebook.  I still get on there, but my postings have been fewer and fewer.  I like to find out things from people by running into them at the grocery store and catching up or meeting for lunch.  When I share things on the Blog or Facebook, I feel like everyone already knows what is going on in my life so they don't ask how things are (same with me towards people).  Does that make sense?  I just feel like it's impersonal.  And like I said, I don't share everything online, so if the posts you see make you think that I have a perfect life or perfect kids, that's totally not the case.  So I'm trying to balance telling enough about me and my family to make us seem like real, normal people but also not over-sharing :)

The other reason why I chose to take a break is because the last few months, I have just felt off.  I'm still not sure what is totally going on...it's frustrating.  Ever since my 3rd pregnancy, my Type 1 Diabetes has been out of control.  Still, 14 months after delivery, my body is super-insulin resistant.  I'm working with my doctors to get this under control, but it's taking much longer than I ever expected.  Needless to say, that's been affecting my exercise and training as well as numerous other areas of my life.  I won't go into all the details here on the blog, but I will share some of what I've learned.

So anyway, I'm back.  I'm excited to share some of the things that have happened in the last 5 months, some upcoming home projects I want to do, some diet and exercise stuff and lots of other things...hopefully I can stay on a roll and keep up :)

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Flying Pig 10k Results

I did it!  I finished the 2012 Flying Pig Marathon 10K race this morning!  Yep, that's 6.2 miles...my longest race yet.  


I started out this morning by waking up at 5:30 to wake Molly up to nurse her before I left the house.  Breakfast was in the car (banana with peanut butter, yogurt with cereal) as I had no idea what to expect parking-wise.  I had planned on carpooling with my running buddy, but she backed out at the last minute, so I was in it alone.  That made me more nervous on my way down and waiting for the run to start.  I found a spot to park right away so I had plenty of time to mentally try and get ready for the race and to get my gear together, try to get my blood sugar under control (I try to keep it a little higher than normal so I don't crash in the middle of the race) and get to the start line.  I didn't take my phone or my camera, so I don't have any photos of the actual race or start, but it was such a fun atmosphere.  Actually, all of the races that I've done have had a great spirit and a "buzz" before the start.


So the actual course was crossing the bridge over into Northern Kentucky, running the riverfront, back over the bridge, past the start line and another 1.5 mile loop around downtown Cincinnati.  I think most of the first 4.5 miles of the course is the same as the Flying Pig 1/2 and Full marathons that take place on Sunday morning.  


The run was scenic, the water stops were well placed, and overall I just really enjoyed the run.  The last mile was probably the toughest for me, but once I saw the finish line, I was able to pick up my speed a little.  My garmin said that my 5k (3.1miles) was around 34:00 and my 5 mile was around 56:00.  Both of those times were about 2 minutes better than my times at previous races this year (Shamrock Shuffle 5k in March was 36min and the Walk for Life 5 mile was 58min).  So, overall I'm pleased.


Here is a screen shot of my Garmin upload:

Here are my official race stats:

The fastest lady finished it in 38:00...which is just a few minutes longer than my 5k pace :)  I'm definitely not a fast runner, but I'm proud of where I finished.  For me it was good.  And it was a great first introduction to the Flying Pig Marathon.  I say first because I will be back!  Hopefully doing the 1/2 marathon next year...

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It's go time!

So, Goal #1 for the year was accomplished on March 30th when I finished the Bible in 90 Days reading program.  Part of Goal #2 will be accomplished tomorrow when I run the Flying Pig Marathon 10K course.

I have to admit...training was much more difficult this year than it was 2 years ago when I completed my first triathlon.  I'm not sure all the reasons, but one major reason was that now I have 3 kids instead of 2.  Not only does adding one more kid to the mix take a little more time, but it also makes it so they don't fit in the jogging stroller.  Which has made it logistically more difficult to get my runs in.  So, I'm not expecting a stellar time tomorrow.

But, today I went to the expo associated with the marathon and was blown away.  I've only competed in two 5k's, the annual walk for life for our local women's center (a 5 mile course, have only run twice but participated probably 10 times), and 2 triathlons.  That's it.  None of those events were big enough to have an expo, although the Shamrock Shuffle 5K that I did earlier this year had lots of vendors outside.  But this was huge.  I thought I would walk in there, grab my bib number and leave, but there were like 5 rows of vendors that you walked past on your way to get your t-shirt and poster.  I didn't have my camera because I totally wasn't expecting anything like it, but I really wish I had allotted more time to visit all the booths.  I'm so new to the running world and just have so much to learn.

Anyway, I thought I would show you my "flat shot" of my running gear for tomorrow.  I saw this idea on Moms Run This Town's Facebook page last week and thought it was a cute idea.

For my electronics, I have my Garmin Forerunner 205, my iPod shuffle (thanks to my friend, Mary!) and my insulin pump.  The pink shirt is what I'll be wearing, but the grey shirt is the official shirt and I'm taking it with me to change into after the race.  If I make it that far :)

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Eating healthy

So, lately I've been trying to eat healthier.  Partly because my body still isn't back to normal since having baby #3.  And by normal, I don't mean back to pre-pregnancy weight or pre-pregnancy sized clothes, but I mean health wise.  My last A1C (the average blood glucose level for about 90 days) was over 8.  To give perspective, the goal is less than 7 and a normal person without diabetes usually is between 4-6.  An A1C of 8 or higher means your average glucose levels were around 205...yikes!  The problem with this is that the longer your body stays at the higher level is the higher risk you have of developing complications.

Another medical condition that I've had since I was diagnosed as Type 1 diabetic in 2004 is high cholesterol.  I tried changing my diet (although my diet has never really been that high in cholesterol to begin with), but that had no effect on my cholesterol levels and I was put on Lipitor.  I didn't have any adverse reactions to the drug (that I know of), but was taken off of it when we started trying to have a family (it causes birth defects so you can't be on it if you are pregnant).  My doctor mentioned to me at my last checkup about going back on it since we are finished having kids.  However, I'm still nursing so I can't be put back on it until Molly is weaned.  Anyway, my bad cholesterol is 132.  Which isn't super-high, but again with being diabetic, they want it less than 80.

Anyway, all that to say, I've been trying to change my diet and adding some supplements to 1) get my blood sugar back into a normal range, 2) hopefully get my cholesterol under 100, with a goal of not ever going on Lipitor again, and 3) become more healthy to lose a little weight and maintain a healthy weight for the rest of my life.

So, this is what I had for breakfast:

And it was good!  This was my first time buying soy milk and I must say that I tried to drink a glass of it and it was disgusting.  But, when I put it on the cereal, it was really good.  I also put it in some organic Annie's mac-n-cheese for the boys the other day and they didn't even notice.  In fact, they had thirds.  We haven't made all the changes to eating as healthy as I would like, but we are making progress!

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Busy!

Phew...it's been a busy month!  I think I over-committed myself this month.  Between keeping up with 3 kids, working 2 days a week at a local church doing childcare while the mommas get a break, training for my 10k and triathlon, reading through the Bible in 90 days, plus doing cakes almost every weekend, this has been a busy month!  I just haven't had time to come up with blog posts.  I enjoy blogging, I really do!  It just hasn't been up there on the priority list.  I've even been slacking in the pinterest department, so you know it's been busy around here :)

But I wanted to take a few minutes and update on my progress for my 2012 Goals:

spiritual goal:  Read through the Bible in 90 Days.  I'm still doing this, but I'm behind by about 5 days.  It's going to take a bit of extra work to catch up since the daily readings are about 5 hours each for me complete.  But I'm still at it and won't give up!

health/body goal:  Complete the Flying Pig 10k on Saturday, May 5 & the Little Miami Triathlon on Sunday, June 3.  I have also added a 5 mile run on April 21^st for the Clinton County Women’s Center Walk for Life (if you want to join me, let me know and I can send you details!).  I am completing my "unofficial" training and will be starting my official training plan tomorrow!  I've been doing a good job running 3 times each week plus I've been doing a couple of spinning classes here and there.  Here's what my "official" training plan for the running looks like.  

	Week	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat	Sun
Feb 20	1	2	rest	2	rest	2	rest	3	9 mi total
Feb 27	2	2	rest	2	rest	2	rest	3	9 mi total
Mar 5	3	2	rest	2	rest	3	rest	3	10 mi total
Mar 12	4	2	rest	3	rest	3	rest	4	12 mi total
Mar 19	5	2	rest	3	rest	3	rest	4	12 mi total
Mar 26	6	3	rest	3	rest	4	rest	4	14 mi total
Apr 2	7	3	rest	3	rest	4	rest	4	14 mi total
Apr 9	8	3	rest	4	rest	4	rest	5	16 mi total
Apr 16	9	3	rest	4	2	rest	5*	rest	14 mi total
Apr 23	10	4	rest	4	rest	5	rest	6	19 mi total
Apr 30	11	4	rest	4	rest	5	rest	10K
May 7	12	4	rest	5	rest	6	rest	7	22 mi total
May 14	13	4	rest	5	rest	6	rest	7	22 mi total
May 21	14	5	rest	6	rest	7	rest	8.5	26.5 mi total
May 28	15	6	rest	4	rest	rest	TRI		10 mi total

financial goals: Complete Baby Step #3 by July 1 (fully funded emergency fund of 6 months expenses), start on Baby Steps #4 and 5 (investing for retirement and college funds for the kids).  We've made a little progress on this goal but there's been a slight setback.  Looks like my hubby is going to have to have shoulder surgery and carpel tunnel surgery and will be out of work for about 4 weeks (mostly unpaid).  So instead of socking money away for our fully funded emergency fund, we are socking it away so we won't have to worry if his recovery takes a little longer or if surgery and PT costs more than what we expect.  It's wonderful having enough money in the bank that we really don't have to worry!

family goal: take a vacation!  Nothing set up yet...but I have quit my job for Tuesdays (so after this coming week, I will only be working every Thursday at the local church doing childcare).  This will help make a little more time for fun with the kids or doing cakes which I enjoy more than the childcare work :)

business goal:  Limit bookings to no more than 7 wedding cakes for the year.  I think I'm changing this one to 12....with Steve taking a leave from work it just makes more sense for me to try and get a couple extra in.  Plus, I also have a couple house projects that I want to do and that's what I usually use my cake money for :)

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2012 Goals

source

Happy New Year!  I can't believe that 2012 is here already.  2011 was a good year for us as a family and I'm looking forward to what this new year has to bring!


Since it's now the new year with a new start, I thought I would post my goals for this next year.  I posted a while ago about how to go about goal setting.  To be a goal, it has to have 5 elements:


·  Be specific
·  Be measurable

·  Have a time limit

·  Be yours (aka, something you want to do, not something someone else wants you to do)

·  Be in writing

Personally, I have 5 different areas that I like to make goals for, so I thought I would share my goal for each area for 2012:

spiritual goal:  Read through the Bible in 90 Days, starting January 1 & ending March 31.  I did this in 2010 and it was the first time I had ever read through the entire Bible!

health/body goal:  Complete the Flying Pig 10k on Saturday, May 5 & the Little Miami Triathlon on Sunday, June 3.  I would also like to lose some of the baby weight I've accumulated over 3 pregnancies, but I'm going to focus more on being healthy than actual numbers on a scale.

financial goals: Complete Baby Step #3 by July 1 (fully funded emergency fund of 6 months expenses), start on Baby Steps #4 and 5 (investing for retirement and college funds for the kids).  We've been working the Dave Ramsey plan for a couple years now and excited to go to the next level and then start paying off the house!  My long-term goal is to have the house paid off before I'm 40, so we have a max of 12 years from now to get rid of the mortgage.

family goal: take a vacation!  This doesn't seem like a true "goal", but this will be the first year ever that Steve gets more than 1 week of vacation!  We have never taken an actual vacation with the kids (other than our trip to Louisville, but it was actually a work conference for Steve), so I'm excited to do some exploring with the kids!

business goal:  Limit bookings to no more than 7 wedding cakes for the year...I need more time with the kids!!!

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