Chasing My Joy

My journey to becoming an Ultra Runner and Ironman

WEEKLY RUNDOWN – 50 MILE BASE TRAINING WEEK 4

We survived the bomb cyclone this week, which made for a not very interesting week in running. Also I think the kids are sick of winter at this point too, Cannon asks to go outside to the park everyday now. I do have some hope that after the blizzard we have finally turned a corner and spring is on it’s way.

This is how the week went down:

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Monday:  after a bigger weekend I like to take Mondays easy so just 2 easy miles on the treadmill before the kids wake up. I am getting more used to the 4am alarm but it’s still not easy.

Tuesday: With the time change it is just too dark for me to run outside for me but I think I will be breaking out my headlamp soon. 6.11 mile progression run on the treadmill.

Wednesday: Another morning treadmill run (are you bored yet, because I am) 3.1 mile easy run then strength training while watching The Bachelor finale. Then the weather rolled in and I think the kids are sick of playing inside.

Thursday: We survived the storm but it will still be a couple days before roads and sidewalks are clear. Just two easy miles on the treadmill before the kids woke up.

Friday:  I think this is the day my mental strength broke a bit for the treadmill. I was supposed to run a little longer but could only make it 3 miles before giving up and doing some strength training.

Saturday: Finally getting to run outside for the first time for the week! There were still many icy spots to dodge but it felt amazing to run outside. 6.87 miles outside with Cory and the kids flew by!

Sunday: Back on the treadmill for a little over 11 miles. The weather was nice but we had a really busy day planned so the only time I had to run was early in the morning. I didn’t want to try to brave the icy spots in the dark. At least I think I have built my treadmill tolerance back up since 11 miles didn’t feel that long. The rest of the day was beautiful and I enjoyed spending it with my family instead of out running.

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Totals: 34.2 miles running ( Just one run outside) and 2 strength training sessions.

I am linking up with  #RIOTS (Running Is Our Therapy Sisters) This is a great accountability group of bloggers, you should join too! The hosts are: Brandi at Funner Runner, Anna Louise at Gracious Warrior Princess, Briana at Mat.Miles.Medals, Meghan at Meghan on the Move, Jenn at Runs With Pugs and Elizabeth at Train With Bain

I am also linking up with the new Weekly Rundown, with Confessions of A Mother Runner and Running on the Fly!

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How is your training going?

Are you looking forward to spring and summer running weather?

Catching up + Bomb Cyclone

I wish I was kidding when I said that we are holed up at home riding out a Bomb Cyclone. Really that’s just a fun weather term but we are staying in avoiding a very real blizzard. Lot’s of wind, snow, ice and low visibility. The power is going in and I am just grateful that none of us have to be out in these conditions.

For me that meant early alarm so I could get three miles on the treadmill. Two easy miles then 5 x 20 second strides in the last mile to keep things interesting. After running I did about 30 minutes of strength work.

We are currently riding the late winter/spring weather roller coaster. Every year we get glimpses of spring with nice days in the 60s broken up by cold and snow, this year has been colder than normal.

We have been finding lots of ways to keep busy indoors while waiting for spring to show up. Many days spent at indoor playgrounds, museums and libraries.

Cannon might be losing his mind a little, almost everyday he asks me if we can go to the park.

luckily we did make it out this last weekend and it was amazing!

Another kid win was taking them to a story time and tour of the Boulder Rural Fire Department. The firefighters were so sweet with the kids. We got to tour the firehouse and the fire trucks. Cannon was in heaven, he hasn’t stoped talking about fire trucks. Well worth the drive if you live in the area, they do story time once a month!

As for me I have put in over 30 miles on the treadmill in the last couple weeks.

I kept myself entertained watching the the finale of The Bachelor (yes, I know I am too old to watch this show).

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Has winter been harsh where you live?

What have you been doing lately?

Weekly Rundown – 50 Mile Base Training Week 3

Week Three of base training in the books and really the only thing I can complain about is the weather and I will try not to since we are all locked in this endless winter together. I am happy with how my legs held up with the bump in milage and excited to keep building up my base.

This is how the week went down:

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Monday:  Woke up feeling tired and sore from the previous Sunday’s long run so just hopped on the treadmill for a couple miles and some strength training.

Tuesday: The weather has still been not so fun here in Colorado so I ran eight miles on the treadmill. This was a big accomplishment for me mentally as I am out of mental shape for running on the treadmill. I used to have a lot more tolerance for it but I am slowing bringing it back up.

Wednesday: Another two miles on the treadmill as a warm up for some strength training. Watched the Bachelor for my entertainment. It’s a weird season.

Thursday: I was not feeling spunky so just a mile on the treadmill. I think I all the running inside is getting to me. Also did some stretching and stability work.

Friday:  Cory had the day off so I waiting until nap time and actually got to run outside!! It was cold and windy but so worth it for the fresh air for five miles.

Saturday: It was crazy windy and after freezing on Friday I didn’t feel up to running outside so I jumped on the treadmill for 3 miles. I watched From Fat to Finish Line

Sunday: So glad to be back to Sunday long run days! I slept in (until 5:30 when Emmy wakes up, good thing she is cute!) but wasn’t happy about losing an hour over night. I waited until Emerald went down for her morning nap so I would have more light. It was a pleasant 30 degrees and not TOO windy for a ten mile run. It was a slow run but my legs never felt too bad so I am going to call it a win!

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Totals: 31.1 miles running ( Over half of those miles on the treadmill) and 2 strength training sessions.

The goal for this coming week is to follow the plan as written and drink 100 oz of water a day

I am linking up with  #RIOTS (Running Is Our Therapy Sisters) This is a great accountability group of bloggers, you should join too! The hosts are: Brandi at Funner Runner, Anna Louise at Gracious Warrior Princess, Briana at Mat.Miles.Medals, Meghan at Meghan on the Move, Jenn at Runs With Pugs and Elizabeth at Train With Bain

I am also linking up with the new Weekly Rundown, with Confessions of A Mother Runner and Running on the Fly!

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How is your training going?

watch anything good on the treadmill lately?

Friday Favorites – Keeping Cozy

Happy Friday everyone! I am so excited that it is March. I probably shouldn’t be since spring won’t really show up here in Colorado for a few months but I am so looking forward to longer days, sunshine and afternoons at the park.

In appreciation of the continued cold weather I thought I would share some of my favorites for winter.

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This Blistex chapstick is the best. The dry winter air leaves my lips feeling dry and terrible. This chapstick is the only thing that I have found that really helps. I try to have one with my at all times.

Joy Lab at Target has some really cute active wear and athleisure wear. I am really loving their sweatshirts. They are so soft and wash well.

With 4-8 inches of snow coming and highs in the teens this weekend I will most likely be spending some quality time on the treadmill. We recently cut the cord on our Dish service (yay) and picked up Hulu (we already had Amazon Prime and Netflix) I am excited to get into the Handmaids Tale, I read the book in 2017.

Emmy is loving these Zutano Booties They actually stay on her feet, are very warm AND she can crawl and walk in them. They wash easily and have held up well. Also I think they are cute.

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I hope you all have a wonderful Friday!

What are some of your favorites from this week?

Weekly Rundown – 50 Mile Base Training Week 1 + a Strong Finish

Well friends it’s time for another weekly rundown. This week was my first official week of base training for Run Rabbit Run 50 Mile. I have 5 weeks of base training to get my endurance dialed up before 24 weeks of specific training starts on April 1st.

This last week was not a killer week. The kids and I were all still really sick. I always think I am going to bounce out of a cold feeling great after 2-3 days but that never happens. After sevenish days of being really sick, I was feeling over it but it took a while to feel slightly normal again. The begining was short bits just to get myself moving and then ended the week a little stronger.

I am linking up with HoHo Runs and Taking the Long Way Home  for a Weekly Wrap, go check out all the inspiring runners!

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Monday:  Quick 2 mile shake out on the treadmill with pick – ups.

Cute pic of Emmy since running wasn’t very exciting early in the week.

Tuesday: Inside again on the treadmill, jogged a mile and called it a warm up for some strength training.

Wednesday: Took the kids in the stroller for a loop outside, 1.8ish miles.

Thursday: By Thursday I was feeling a little better so I took the kids to the gym and ran 3.3 miles on the treadmill while they were in child sitting. Emmy still isn’t a fan =(

Friday: Quick treadmill mile + some strength training.

Saturday: We got about five inches of fresh snow but I couldn’t handle another day inside. It was cold but very pretty!

Sunday: On Sunday I talked Cory into running with the kids and me. 5.8 chilly miles around the neighborhood. Cory tacked on another couple miles, he is training for a half ironman in May.

All miles this week were easy as I build up my base. This week has me dreaming of warmer (and lighter) days, spring please come!

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Totals: 19 miles running and 2 strength training sessions. I am hoping that I can stay healthy for at least a month!

How is your training?

Are you looking forward to summer?

How to be a Runner

Finally we are all starting to feel better, this cold season has been rough. I spent many days in denial of how sick I was but I had no energy and really needed to take some time to get better. There has also been a pretty good cold snap going on here so I have not been running outside at all.

Today I got up early hoping to run but just couldn’t summon the energy and did some strength training instead. Around 10 The kids and I made it to the gym. I have been avoiding putting Emerald in Child Sitting because she has cried the other times I have tried. Emerald’s doctor encouraged me to continue to try to help her with her stranger danger. She cried again today but the staff there were able to get her to calm down. I have such mom guilt about leaving her there if I think she will cry, it’s so hard.

Sucking it up today gave me a chance to get 3.2 progression miles in on the treadmill. Success.

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I loved Runner’s World Magazine’s feature called “How to Be a Runner”.

The idea is that you choose one topic from the category, and then explain some of your answers.

I loved it so much I thought I would play along with my own answers:

Let Me Explain:

  1. Coffee, forever, one of my true loves. I like beer but I could live without it. Coffee before almost every run.
  2. Living in Colorado sunglasses are a must for eye health, although I almost always run with a hat as well to keep my hair in check.
  3. Running with friends or family is always more fun but with our crazy schedule I often run alone, I enjoy that as well.
  4. I used to be a really bad heel striker and worked to become more if a forefoot runner.
  5. I am a morning person by nature so morning is the best time for me to run. With this ultra training I hope to train in the evening as well as I will be running all.day.long
  6. Lead would probably be more popular but I don’t always have the best way finding skills. At my last race I was so happy to follow other runners instead of trying to find trail markers.
  7. I do love my Amazon but going to a local running store is the BEST. I like to support local small business and getting a shoe fit is so important.

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What are a few (or all!!!) of your choices?

Emerald Catherine | 10 Months

I really didn’t think that things could get any better than last month when we celebrated Emerald’s first Christmas but this month has been even more magical. We had so much fun this last month and Emerald just adds so much light and happiness to our lives.

This month was full of adventure with a quick trip to Moab for a half marathon for me and a trip to Disneyland. Emmy was such a champ with all the traveling and schedule changes.

At ten months Emerald is 28.75 inches long (72% ) and 19 lbs 8 oz (63%) BMI 49%. Emmy is wearing size 3 diapers, and is wearing mostly 9 or 12 month size clothes but 9 month clothes are all reaching their end so I will have to put them away soon. I have a feeling we are headed for a growth spurt soon.

Also getting these monthly photos is getting harder and harder, all she wants to do is move and play with her stuffed animal.

She sure has changed the last ten months!

  • Emerald, newborn, baby girl
  • 5 months, baby girl
  • Baby Girl
  • Baby Girl, 7 Months

EAT

Eating is still coming along slowly for Emmy, she is eating soft solids when we feed her. She still isn’t feeding herself or holding her own bottle so we are working on that and hope that she will start making progress soon. Even though she won’t feed herself the food we give her she is always trying to steal her brother’s snacks.

SLEEP

Sleep is mostly going well. We have a really good routine with our daytime naps, she is still taking three a day. I love that she is on a good routine but I am also looking forward to working down the number of naps so we can be out and about more. It would also be nice to get her to sleep in longer and skip the morning nap. Most days she is up between 5:00 and 5:30 am. 6:30 to 7:00 would be nicer.

While we were traveling Emmy did a great job of napping on the go mostly in her stroller or in the Beco carrier.

While on our trip to Moab we learned that Emmy was NOT going to sleep in the pack n play so we knew not to bother bringing it to California. She was very happy to get to snuggle every night. I am surprised she slept at all in her crib when we got home.

GROW

Emmy is loving her independence now that she can crawl wherever she wants to go.

he is also constantly pulling herself up and has even started walking with push toys so I am not sure how much longer we have until she is walking.

Another big development this month is the appearance of teeth, or a tooth.

I like to call her fang since one of her upper teeth decided to come in all on it’s own. It’s normal but very uncommon for kids to get top teeth first, most get their bottom teeth first. Cannon also got his top teeth first so I guess it’s just in our genes. There are four top teeth about to come in and just a couple days ago one (just one!) bottom tooth popped through.

Emmy had a follow up eye appointment this month to be sure that her eyes are developing correctly. I was so excited to hear that everything looks good with her vision. This doesn’t mean that she won’t ever need glasses but her eyes are developing as they should so that makes us happy.

PLAY

Emmy had fun visiting Moab this month and hanging out with her cousins.

She is such a relaxed baby and just wants to hang out with her people.

I wasn’t sure how she would react to Disneyland. I was afraid she would be overwhelmed with all the noise and chaos and being away from everything she is used to. But she loved it! She loved the music, and people, and cuddles.

I loved taking Emmy to Disneyland and I can’t wait to do it again. Recaps from our trip HERE and HERE

We got to celebrate Valentine’s Day this month and it’s even more fun now that we have two kids to shower with love.

Emmy loved her card from her grandparents and going to a valentines party with Cannon.

We had one day with temperatures in the 50s so we ran out to the park to play while we could. I didn’t put her in warm enough pants to play in the sand so she is wearing Cannon’s back up pants that I keep in the diaper bag, haha! She loved playing outside with her brother so much. I can’t wait until spring/summer when we can get out to the parks more!

Past Monthly Updates

1 Month

2 Months

3 Months

4 Months

5 Months

6 Months

7 Months

8 Months

9 Months

Friday Favorites – Portraits and Poppies

This week has been a bit of a doozy, we are all pretty sick (why does that always seem to happen post vacation), Emmy has been having trouble sleeping and she is teething. I am sure glad it’s Friday and I can share some favorites with you!

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I really love my Lululemon Vinyasa Scarf I wore this scarf everyday of our trip because it was cooler than I expected. It kept me nice and warm and dried fast when it got wet. I love that it has snaps so it can be worn it many different ways. It was also helpful on the trip home when Emerald’s blanket had bubble solution spilled on it. We used the scarf as a blanket for Emmy on the plane and she slept the entire way. I have also had it for years and it has washed well and kept it’s shape (I hang dry it).


On our last day in Disneyland we stopped at the Silhouette Studio where a very talented artist made cut silhouettes of Cannon and Emerald. You actually get two mirror images for just $10 each! I will treasure these forever. I just need to get frames and hang them up. I hope we can do this every time we visit and watch the kids grow.

Last week I was excited to open a package from Little Poppy Co. Little Poppy Co is a subscription bow service where you get a set of three bows each month. I started getting these for Emmy in August and have loved every set. They are seasonally themed and always so cute! They are reasonably priced and can be delivered with a band for little girls or clips for little ones with more hair. You can also convert the bands to clips later =)

And for your treadmill and Netflix: We binge watched Russian Doll this week. It’s a bit weird and dark and not safe for kids but it’s oddly addicting! Both Cory and I can’t wait for more episodes to be released so we can see what happens. Amy Poehler produced this and really can’t do any wrong.

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Do you have any favorites this week?

Happy weekend!!

Teeth + No Voice + Finally an A Race

Our sweet little Emmy has been teething this week, the last few nights she has woken up overnight clearly in pain. My heart breaks when it seems like she is in pain. It also shines a light on how easy we have had it that both kids started sleeping through the night very early on. Also we are just getting into teething now at almost ten months so others have to deal with this much earlier. While I hate that anything might hurt her we are all enjoying some extra cuddles.

In the morning we went to a Valentines party with Cannon’s little friends. He was pretty excited about eating a cupcake and playing.

You can see his little hand trying to steal chocolates. I remember Valentines Day being so fun when I was little and I love sharing it with the kids now too.

Because of the broken sleep I wasn’t feeling up to getting up at four am to run so after naps I bundled the kids up and we went for an afternoon jog.

Unfortunately after a few days of feeling under the weather I have completely lost my voice. It’s been an interesting challenge trying to parent with no voice.

Even with all the challenges I am pretty excited about this years running. I have been thinking long and hard about what I wanted my big goal to be for this year and I finally settled on a race! I considered a lot of different races and distances but nothing was feeling right. I wanted something big that would push me out of my comfort zone this summer. The race needed to be mid to late summer to give me enough time to train. It also needed to be before fall because we are going to Germany in late September and it would be too hard to keep up serious training while traveling for almost three weeks.

When I thought of Run Rabbit Run 50 it seemed to fit just right. I would have the entire summer to train, get into the mountains as much as possible and a little over a week to recover before our flight. This schedule feels right to me.

Source

I am nervous about the amount of climbing and the altitude. This is definitely not a beginners course.

But it’s hard to come across an easy ultra course in Colorado and I am most interested in a a scenic run and Run Rabbit delivers on views as much as the difficult terrain.

Source

So here we go, a 50 day run streak to kick off 50 mile training!

Yes I am starting my training now with 11 weeks of base building to build up my endurance and durability before starting a more specific 20 week training plan where I will focus on climbing, technical trails in May. I will start altitude training once the mountain trails thaw in the summer. Cory and I have already discussed how we want to take the kids camping in the mountains this summer and he is totally onboard for me running on trails while he hangs with the kids.

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Any advice on getting my voice back?

What are your big race plans for 2019?

A 50 Day Run Streak

I am so excited to really start training again for a big goal race. I had a great time training and running the Arches Ultra Half Marathon back in January and after a few weeks of just running whatever, I am ready to be back on a plan training for something big and scary.

Back in January I attempted a a month long run streak, I did miss a couple days so I am hoping to really hit 100% of my goal this time. I am shooting for 50 days this time because I wanted a push goal and it fell in line with returning from vacation that 50 days would get me to the end of March.

Beating the winter running blues

I read a great article in No Meat Athlete about what he gained from a 50 day run streak and how it worked for him. He talked a bit about how the streak really helped with his lacking motivation. I feel really excited about training right now but sometimes the cold dark mornings are difficult and getting through February and March will lead to better running weather.

50 Lessons Learned from a 50-Day Run Streak

So the streak started Saturday with a fun 3.25 mile run with the entire family outside (cue angles singing). It has been so cold, dark and icy so it is time to really make friends with the treadmill.

So here we go, 50 day run streak to kick off my 50 mile ultra training – more coming on that soon!

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What helps you get through winter running?

Ever done a run streak?