September 3, 2010

A week in review, other things too, and a reward!

Training:
I have had a great training week so far.  Because both of my boys are in school now, I was able to tweak my schedule a little bit.  I decided to start doing my tempo runs on Mondays, my long runs on Wednesday, and my speed work on Saturdays.  Usually I do my long runs on Saturday which takes up a lot of time.  But, because I don't get to spend as much time with my boys during the week anymore, I wanted to free up some time on the weekend.  I know I'll be doing my speed workouts, but they are relatively short in comparison to a long 16, 18, or 20 mile run!  Plus, it will be nice to have more time on the weekends to spend as a family. :)  

*  I am happy to say that I did my first 16 MILE run this week!  I was actually really excited to do it because up to this point, the longest I've run is 14 miles.  I loaded up my Nathan belt with Hammer gel, Gu, water, NUUN, and watered down Gatorade and took off. The weather was perfect, and although I was excited, I had a little voice of doubt in the back of my mind questioning whether or not I could make the distance.  It seems like no matter what we're training for, we always get to points in the plan where self doubt comes into play.  But, I am constantly amazed by what my body can do.  I have found that if I'm consistent and do the work, then my body will continue to do things that I never thought it could do (like run 16miles at once!).  I know 26.2 miles is still 10.2 miles further than 16, but after that run I was finally able to visualize myself running the marathon.  I know that may sound weird, but up until this point, I haven't really pushed myself beyond what I've already done.   Being able to do the 16 miles, gave me a boost of confidence that I needed!  
Happy and sweaty after my run.  I have come to terms that I am just a SALTY, SWEATY runner and the "rocky mountain peaks" on my visor will always be there after my runs in the sun.

*  I started going to my weekly yoga classes again, and oh how I have missed them.  I have found that it is just an all around awesome workout.  I am able to work my muscles, get in some good stretching, and release some stress.  I love it!

Other things too:
*  We took our boys hiking in the Rocky Mountain National Park on Sunday, and it was awesome!  We hiked up hill for 1.1 miles to two beautiful lakes, then hiked back down.  Although there was some whining throughout the 2.2 mile hike, which was totally expected with a 3 and 5 yr. old, they were both real troopers and did better than we expected!  My husband and I both commented about how we cannot wait until they are old enough to go on backpacking trips.













*  Diana from Diana Tries a Tri gave me the Cherry on Top Award! Yay!  If you haven't checked out her blog, do it, because she is hilarious and has the best pictures in her posts! :)

Here are the rules:  

#1 Answer this question: If you had the chance to go back and change one thing in your life, would you and what would it be?


Answer:  Hmmm, this is a very loaded question. Of course there are things that I wish I could change, but ultimately I think everything we do leads us to where we are at this point in our lives.  But, maybe one thing I would change is I wish that I would have had more fun and gone on more adventures when I was in college and then newly married.  My husband and I look back to the time before we had our boys and think about all of the missed opportunities we had to go backpacking, hiking a 14er, or going on a spectacular adventure together.  Before we knew it, time passed by, we bought a house, and had two kids.  I LOVE my boys, and could not imagine my life without them, but when you have kids, your life automatically changes.  Our days of backpacking are long gone, and I know my boys will grow up way too fast and before I know it we'll be backpacking as a family.  But, there's a part of me that misses doing these things with my husband.  It's something that WE did together and it was awesome!  It makes me realize that I need to make more time for my husband and get better at planning date nights.    
#2 The second thing you have to do is, pick 6 people and give them this award. You then have to inform the person that they have gotten this award.


Answer:  This award has been going around like crazy, so there are already a lot of you that have been picked.  So, I'm going to pick bloggers that I don't think have received it yet!


1.  Anne Marie from Anne-Marie's Blog
2.  Kathleen at Dare To Dream
3.  Kevin at Ironman By Thirty
4.  Alexa at Just Keep Swimming
5.  Julie at You Just Have to Tri
6.  Alisa at Ambitious Aspirations Make Great Accomplishments
#3 The third and final thing is, thank the person who gave you the award.


Answer:  Diana, thank you so much for the award!  :)  Your blog always make me smile and/or laugh!  

32 comments:

Andrew Opala said...

Great mileage! I'll check out your six as well - they're sure to be interesting blogs.

Jon said...

My goodness you live in a most beautiful area of the world! Nice job on the 16 miler! Have a great weekend!

Heather said...

Congrats on the 16 miler, sounds like it was a good one!
What a beautiful place to take your boys hiking! That's a great family photo!

Unknown said...

Hey I gave you an award too!!! :)

Unknown said...

My oldest is back to school next week, and I'm thinking of doing the same thing with my schedule - trying to get at least one long workout during the week, whether it be bike or run. Congrats on the 16-miler!!

KovasP said...

If you can do 16, you'll have no problem with the marathon!

Diana Tries-A-Tri! said...

16 miles!?!? In one day!?!? At once!?!? That's like my weekly mileage lady! Nice work! And thanks for the shoutout, I like reading your blog too, and YOU have a sweaty picture up today ... noice!

Anonymous said...

That's awesome about your first 16-mile run, way to go!!

Amber Shea

Unknown said...

Well Done Aimee. Well Done.

Unknown said...

Yay, glad you are having fun with marathoning!

Teamarcia said...

Yay I'm so glad your head is around running the whole 26.2--that is a major turning point!

Christi said...

Congrats on the great run! I understand exactly where you are coming from on that one. When I was training for my marathon. I was always amazed at how great I felt after each new mileage banner was broken. That is the best part of training, the journey!

I love my yoga class and I have to get back to that!

And you are right, your boys will grow up fast so enjoy every moment! My son is 18 and pretty much on his own. But it all flew by so fast!

RunToTheFinish said...

i love that feeling of WAHOO when you complete a nice long run! i am already getting psyched for my run tomorrow and i'm in the low mileage right now

Amy said...

I'm testing out 14 miles this weekend. It'll be my first run over 13.1. Your good run of 16 gives me a lot of hope for my run!

DRog said...

do you use both hammer gel and Gu on a run?

nice 16 miler but even more impressive with the 3 and 5 year old on the trail!
-Derek

Aimee said...

DRog - I'm kind of experimenting with Hammer Gels b/c I had a few and I really liked them. But I didn't want to bring all HG in case they bothered my stomach. So I ate a HG first, and then the rest were Gu. I didn't have any problem with the HG and it was delicious (apple-cinnamon!)

Julie said...

Thanks for the Cherry award. :)

I have no doubt that you will kill that marathon! It will be here before we know it! You know I'm thinking that you doing the full and me doing the 1/2...well we will probably finish at about the same time. LOL! And I love that feeling you get when you do something you've never done before and didn't think you could.

Unknown said...

Great job on your 16 miler. Mine is coming up soon and, like you, I am a tad worried about it.

You had such a great week. Enjoy these first weeks of fall.

Middle Name Marie said...

Good job on 16 miles! Sometimes I wish I lived in Denver--the scenery is amazing!

AM! said...

nice job w/the 16 miler...you did it!

and jealous of your hiking adventures. too cool. liked reading your award answer too. thx for sharing

happy wknd!

Jill said...

Nice job on the 16er, yay! I haven't been up to Rocky Mt in a couple years...that's such a great, fun place with the family! Glad you got a trip up there!

Christy said...

Just found your blog today! Love it! I'm training for my first tri! I'm a new follower!

Ironman By Thirty said...

Oh no! I've been tagged!!! :)

I guess I better get caught up on my blogging and follow the rules!

Congrats on the 16 mile run!

BTW - If you keep posting pictures of your family adventures in Colorado, I may have to remove you from my Google Reader! :) j/k They always make me so jealous. I have relatives in the Denver area and between their pictures and your pictures, it takes some serious restraint to not pack up and move there!

ShutUpandRun said...

Very cool! I just did that hike last week (Dream Lake, right). So gorgeous only it was 40 degrees and raining...looks like you had a better day. Congrats on your 16 miler!!

Anonymous said...

I'm also a sweaty runner. Sometimes I feel like I can exfoliate after a run just by massaging my face!

I like your response to the question. Now that I have kids, I marvel at how much time I wasted when I was kid-free. I could have accomplished and done so much more!

Barbie said...

You live in the most gorgeous area. Congrats on the 16 miler. That's an awesome accomplishment.

Regina said...

Congrats on the 16 miler!!! I would be a broken mess after that.

Big Daddy Diesel said...

Nice run!! Very impressive!!

Emz said...

HUGE yay on the miles!

Could it be ANY prettier where you live. MAN. Jealous.

Alisa said...

Yeah! You'll be totally fine making the leap up to 20 and 26.2!

Thanks for the award too. I got two of these over the weekend, I definitely need to post about it.

Julie D. said...

Way to go on your 16!! Each time you do more than you have ever done before is like putting money in your confidence piggy bank!! Congrats. Your hike looks beautiful!! I too, wish my husband and I had went on more 'adventures' in our very short 2 years married before kids!! Now we are having very different adventures! :)

Velma said...

Nice work on the 16 and congrats to hubby!