Still raining..

so I decided to hop on the elliptical machine for some cross training! Holy Shit! I.Thought.I.Was.Going.To.DIE! The fat burn cycle kicks ass!

I am also sticking to my No Elevators goal! I sit atop the fifth floor of our 5 floor building and let me tell you, I am huffing and puffing once I get to the 4th. I have to stop once I reach the top and catch my breath, because I don't want the guy ho sits next to me, to hear me sucking wind. So embarrassing.

This dude, rides his bike to work every day, even in the snow and he RUNS up the 5 flights, like nothing. Fucker! LOL nah!

Today's Workout:

10 miles on the elliptical machine/ 48 minutes

Running in the Rain...

I usually like doing this, but not when it's 40 degrees. and since it was a scheduled trail run, another strike against running outside today. I opted for the dreadmill at the gym. 5 mile speed work. I was sucking wind at the end, thought I wasn't gonna make it.

In other news:
My mom finally received her itinerary for her trip up here in February. She was waiting for the approval from Continental, since it was a free ticket, you have to jump through a million hoops and then they approve you.

We are going to make a trip up to GA that Wednesday after she arrives. I love GA. It's sooo pretty. The drive relaxes me as well.

I can't wait to see her, it's been 6 months since we have been together. The kids miss her and I know she misses them.

On a sad note:

The last of the Danios died on Sunday. Blah. It was my fault, the water tests were not getting any better, so I changed out the water. The test said to only change out 25%, well I changed like 75% and plus the little bugger was slippery, took me a whole 5 minutes to get him out....and then about 5 minutes after, he was a floater. :sigh:

The twins didn't even care. We really need to get them their own fish to take care of.

Today's Run

5 miles / 61:33 minutes

How in the hell...

did I gain 3lbs? Man that is sooo frustrating. Aagh. Whatever. I am getting stronger in my running, and I feel better overall. But that weight thing still looms over my head......soo ANNOYING!

I think I am going to move up my runs, and schedule my longer run for Saturday mornings. It will just be easier for me. We stay up late on Saturday nights and then on Sunday I can barely make it out the door for church, never mind a run!

Today's run, it felt like my legs weighed a hundred pounds each. And my calves were really TIGHT! So I stopped and stretched and walked a few kms. I need to google some good calf stretches, because I am trying to run allot more hills and grades, and I think that's why my muscles are tight!

I am thinking of signing up for a race next month. It has been about 6 months since I last raced and I am itching to get out there!

Today's Run:

4.25 miles / 55:02

Happy Chinese New Year!

GCB and I decided to take the kids to our local Chinese New Year celebration. The kids were free, and it was raining, so it was a perfect time to be indoors. There were vendors and performers, and lots and lots and lots of PEOPLE.

Some of them feeling very ENTITLED. But I kept my mouth shut and enjoyed the festivities. The twins tried Chinese food for the first time. They loved the noodles. SX showed us he can use chopsticks, very cool!

Did I mention how HOT it was in the expo building? I think they forgot to turn on the air. GCB was roasting.

The kids got to do some crafts and they had their face painted. We had two very happy batman's and one gorgeous butterfly.

Snow and Exercise

Well I shovelled snow for the first time in my entire life. and it BLEW.BIG.TIME! I feel sorry for Lacy who moved to North Dakota (from Arizona) where they were -35 a few weeks back. I wonder how she deals with all that white stuff? Because I am ready for it to be gone.

The kids have had a ton of fun. Snow ball fights, sledding, snow angels. I am pooped.

So I counted the hour I shovelled snow as my cardio for Tuesday. Then we spent an hour, sledding and what not on Wednesday for another hour.

So today I figured I better get some real cardio time in, and I head out for a run on the ATT. I was amazed that there was still allot of snow on the trail, which added to my workout, because snow, if you didn't know, is hard to run on! I am sure I burned a ton more calories than normal.

And even then, I ran 4.5 miles non-stoop. Surprisingly. and it felt great!

Today's Run:

4.5 mils / 55:10 minutes

LOST

The premiere was freaking awesome, sooo much suspense packed into 2 hours....LOVE.IT! I have come across a few LOST haters lately and all I have to say to them is...Did you see the ratings? That show is AWESOME!

Here are some more pictures of my duo and their snow days:

Snow Day!

I still can't believe it snowed. and snowed. Allot for us central NC'ers. The schools were closed and everyone stayed home. Well almost everyone. Heck even my co-worker rode his bike in, crazy fool! The kids had a blast with the snow.

My excuse was....

that it was way to cold to go out this past weekend. It was. So needless to say no running for me.

All the twins wanted to do was go outside, but on Saturday it was really way tooo cold, and then Sunday it rained all day.

But as I type, they are in the back yard with their dad playing t-ball. Yes, he picked them up early and now I can finish my work and go straight home. I really enjoy the days I don't have to pick them up!

Today's Run:

4.25 miles / 54:25 minutes

The person who shall not be named...

gave us a few movies to watch this past week.

Taken, Gran Torino, 7 Pounds and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button!

I really liked Taken. It was action packed. I thought the plot was a little far fetched, but Liam Neeson is awesome. I mean, who lets their 16 year old daughter go to Paris , ALONE? Don't.Think.So!

7 Pounds was awesome. We were a little confused at first, and the flashbacks were not helping, but towards the middle of the movie, we had the "Oh" moment" I think Will Smith did an awesome job as well as Rosario Dawson. The ending just broke my heart and I think I cried a little tooo much. The meeting of Emily and Ezra was really moving! I am getting a little teary eyed just thinking about it!

We watched Gran Torino last night. I enjoyed it. Again the plot was a little out there, but it was entertaining. I loved the neighbors, especially Sue. She had great charisma! Tao definitely needed to man up!

I am hoping we get to watch Benjamin Button tonight, I have heard good things about this movie.

I have requested , (from the person who shall not be named..) the following movies:

The UnBorn
SlumDog Millionaire
The Wrestler
The Reader
Revolutionary Road
The Day the Earth Stood Still....

It is 14 degrees outside...

I can't believe it. I know it's still above zero, but still, it is way to freaking cold! The kids wanted to wear their snow boots (which I bought at Target, on sale, 50% off, total score) to school, and I had no problem with that. I busted out my ski parka and we were on our way!

The high for today is 24, which is 20 degrees colder than yesterday, I think I may run on the treadmill this afternoon. I am scared by lungs might freeze. LMAO

Wednesday's Run:

3.35 miles/ 41:00 mins

Thursday's Run:

3.75 miles/ 49.02

My stamina is coming along, I can actually run 3.5 miles non stop, but I had a little hiccup on yesterday's run and walked about .10 of a mile. I think I started of a little fast and I tired even faster.

I am not liking the scale hop, but that's just the impatient side of me, The BL competition only started on Monday and I started running again last week. Slow and steady, slow and steady!

Weekend

I was v. sore on Saturday morning and since we had a full day planned, I opted out of running. I am glad I did, because I was feeling better on Sunday, so I went for a 3 miler. I have to keep telling myself that I am off my base and the runs will get easier. I was hurting a little bit but I can tell I am getting my base back!

Today's Run:
3 miles / 36:21 time

Update

I decided to run at the local park, on the path, after work. I think it was 38 degrees. IT.WAS.COLD.

Today's Run

2.5 miles

So it has begun...

Getting OP with WW! I have been trying to get on track the last 6 months and finally after all the hoopla of the Holidays, I can focus on ME!

Running will be my come back sport! I wasted too much time not running. I refuse to go any longer without it (and so does my PANTS :squeeze:)

I started a Biggest Loser contest on my TIF board, and we have a decent turn out. Let the games begin!

Yesterday's Run :
2 miles on the Tread mill

NYE!

So last year was the first year we had a kid friendly party for NYE. It was a hit so we decided to do it again this year, and wouldn't you know, most of our partygoers were kidless! Ha Ha Ha.
We had a killer time, dancing, singing, drinking, eating and ofcourse setting off the infamous firecracker heard 'round the 'hood! LMAO we almost blew up 3 of our neighbors houses...but that's a story for another time!
There was Drama, but isn't there always? it was all good!

Christmas Eve and Christmas

We had a great Christmas this year. We went a wee bit overboard but nothing like the previous year, So we were happy about that. We tried to instill the most important part about Christmas: Celebrating the birth of the Baby Jesus, which they understood, mostly due to their christian preschool and some because I pound it into their brains for a whole two weeks. And they still liked the presents part the most. Meh.

I wish my parents were on this side of the the states, I really miss them during this time of year. All in all we had a great time, other than getting really sick during our two weeks off, and finally getting better towards the last 3 days we were off.

Isn't that just like us to get sick?

Christmas Eve

Christmas

So how do you like the new layout?

I really LOVE it! Very different, and man allot of work to get it up and running!

Will be back with pics and updates from the past couple weeks!