Thinking ahead....

I know that I still have a little over 3 months until this baby is due and another six weeks after that before the doctor normally gives the go ahead for a person to start exercising again but I'm trying to find a goal to set.   Right now I live in Oklahoma and they have the "Oklahoma Freewheel" every year.  I think that would be really cool to ride it.  It is usually over 400 miles.  Each year varies a little in distance and always in location...or at least that is what I understand.  It is a week long bike ride.  It takes place in June.

The other thought I have is to train for a half marathon.  I ran one last year in Idaho close to Halloween and realized that I should have trained a lot better/more.  I would like to do better. 

So my questions are these:
1st are these crazy goals? (keep in mind I tend to do crazy things)
2nd Which should I do first?  The ride is in June.

My thoughts are that if I train for the free wheel and jog on the side then I will lose weight and get back in shape without beating my body up with a lot of running with extra weight. 

Any thoughts or advice.  I can't start training until the new year but I'd like to start planning and setting up a schedule and.... don't tell my husband but I'm going to try to convince him to do one or the other with me or both and this gives me time to work on him.

Bike riding confidence

 We went for another bike ride/walk today.  I didn't jog but just walked with her.  She had a smile on her face when I pushed the button but in the split second it turned to a "" face.  She had fun.  We went past some of the new houses in the neighborhood and just working on building her confidence.  She seems to have lost most of it since Tuesday's ride.  She really struggles with drive ways and getting on and off the sidewalk.

 Yana is just too cute not to take a picture of her too.

 There she goes.  Having fun.

 She loves having her picture taken.

We stopped at the park on the way back and they played on the swings.  It was a good walk but it was so hot by the time we got home.

 I hope you all have a great Friday and a great weekend.  I'll see y'll on Monday.

Exercise

My husband bought me a bike trainer this weekend and it couldn't have come at a better time.  We set it up in the garage and then took it upstairs to our bedroom and put it in the nook but when I tried it we decided that it wouldn't work in the house.  It is simply too loud for me to do it upstairs without waking the girls in the morning.  So I decided to use the garage.  I set it up out there and set to work.  I rode Monday and today.  It has been raining a lot here so running isn't really an option.

I'm so thankful for my husband and the things that he does for me.  I feel great knowing that I'm still getting a good workout in each morning even if it isn't in the form of running.

I hope you are all working towards your goals.  I fell off the wagon for about a week and a half but feel like I'm back on again.  Sometimes that happens but we have to get up and get back on the horse.  Good luck to everyone.

My first bike tour.

You may remember that back in the end of July my sister in law and I went for a 32 mile bike ride at the end of July.  We were doing a family Biggest Loser and she wasn't supposed to be running so we set a goal to ride from the family cabin to West Yellowstone but then changed it to a different location for our own safety.  It was great.  I really enjoyed it.  It had me wanting to do some bike races.

Well I have been trying to run and bike every week because I enjoy them both quite a bit.  I still hadn't ridden in any bike races or tours.  Friday I got this email from my friend who cycles a lot.  She told me about a race on Saturday (today) in the town next to ours.  She asked if I wanted to ride it with her.  It was more of a tour than a race.  Really laid back.  I said yes and that was that.

We chose to ride the 30 miler.  Last night my husband and bought some spare tubes, packed my camelbak and got things ready to go.  My alarm went off at 6 this morning.  Man I haven't had to get up that early in a long time.  My friend came to pick me up around 6:35.  We loaded my bike on her bike rack and headed to Claremore, Ok.  It isn't that far away.  We got there and entered the Dickens of a Ride road tour.  We left the finish line at 8 and went for a wonderful ride.

I was riding my husband's cross trainer.  It is what I have been riding for a while.  It has mountain bike tires on it.  So I felt a little out of place but I was there for me and to have fun with a friend.  It was a beautiful day.  The day started out a little cold but warmed up.  We rode around lakes, over bridges, and past landmarks that actually knew.

It was a good ride.  I started out strong and at mile 14 we stopped at a rest stop.  It was very much needed.  There were so many ups and downs.  I didn't know that there were so many hills in Oklahoma.  It was beautiful but every hill took more and more out of me.  The race turned out to be about 35 miles long making it the longest ride I have ever ridden.  About 8 miles from the the end my knees started to ache.  By the end my legs hurt quite a bit.  When we finished I just walked around, took some Ibuprofen and ate some food.  After about 20 minutes my leg were fine.  It was a great ride.

I'm a little tired still but other than that it has been a great day.  It has me wanting to train better and possibly get a road tires.

I'll keep you posted on my training.

You may have noticed the new badge on the left hand upper side of my blog.  Well I habve joined her blog in my goal to lose weight.  She is also trying to lose 20 pounds in 62 days.  She is trying to start a "community" for  people who are trying to lose weight the right way.  We can share our daily ups and downs and encourage each other in our goals.

If you would like to join us please feel to to click on her button/badge "Budgeting During College".  You will find this "community" unto "20 lbs in 62 days".

As for my weight loss journey...this weekend wasn't very kind.  I originally lost 3 pounds this last week and over the week have gained 1 pound back.  So in order to stay on track I need to lose my original two pounds this week. 

This week:

This morning I biked for 40 minutes and it felt great.
Tuesday:  Run - 30 minutes - strength train upper body
Wednesday - cardio video
Thursday - Bike 30 minutes - strength train lower body
Friday - Run - 30 minutes - strength train upper body
Saturday - Long bike ride (possible Dam Jam bicycle tour - 55 miles)
Sunday - Rest.

That is the plan.  I'll let you know if I stay on track.

Have a good rest of your Labor Day.

Wednesday - sorry no recipe today

Ok as you might have noticed I have been slacking a little (ok maybe a lot) with my blogging.  I have been so tired all the time lately and I don't know why.  I get up with my husband at 6 and then when he leaves for work I right back to bed until 8.  I was getting up at 5:20 to go for a jog or bike ride but it is all I can do to get out of bed.  It doesn't help that when my alarm goes off and I look at the window it is dark outside.  I don't like to run in the dark.

Well I had set a goal Monday to take my kids to the park every morning this week.  Ya so far I'm failing.  Yesterday I was so tired that I didn't want to walk to the park.  I just wanted to sit on my rear and do nothing....so that is what we did.  I read books, had sword fights with my daughter, taunted Yana into crawling to me, and that was about it.

I told my husband last night that I had to go to bed so I could get up this morning and go for a jog.  So, my alarm went off, I hit snooze, it went off and then I just turned it off and rolled over because it was dark outside.  Thankfully my husband saved me because he had to get up anyways and told me to get out of bed.  I love him so much.  I didn't get a very long run in but I did get a mile in and it felt great.  It was dark and I kept seeing lightning flashes to the west and then it started to sprinkle so I headed home.  Thankfully I made it home because it started raining harder and harder until we had an all out downpour around 7. 

As far as the Biggest Loser goals we have going on.  I have lost 10 pounds.  I am down to 190.8 and just have to get past that wall.

I am still planning on the 32+ mile ride in Idaho and am so excited for it.  I'm really enjoying the cross training variety that I am doing.

Things are good.  I am hoping the rain stops so we ca go out today.  We need to get out of the house.  I hope that you all have a good day.  I will continue the recipes in August after we get back from our vacation.

What did I get myself into?

As you know my family is doing a Biggest Loser contest for our family.  It started June 1st and ends August 1st.  We are all looking for new ways to exercise and to lose weight.  I consider myself a runner and am trying to train for a half marathon later this year.  I run 4 times a week.

My sister in law has hurt her shins and can not run for a while but she does like to ride bikes.  So I had this crazy idea.  At the end of July she will be graduating with her Associates degree and the whole family will be coming to see her graduate.  She lives in Idaho.  Our grandfather lives in Island Park and we love to go there.  So my crazy idea....to ride bikes from the cabin to West Yellowstone.  It is about 32 miles away.  The road is in the mountains so there will be ups and downs and traffic.  Thankfully most of the road is 4 lanes so cars can go around us.

Right now I can ride a 6 minute mile pretty steady.  I can ride a 4 minute mile but I don't know how steady.  So we are going to train.  I will now be riding a bike probably 3-4 times a week in preparation and the closer it gets probably more often.  I have a month or so to train.  I have no idea how to train for such an event other than to ride a bike and get my rear end used to sitting.

Any suggestions for those of you who bike a lot?  I could use all the advice I can get.

Bike Ride

I decided earlier this week that I wanted to start riding my bike as well as jog.  It took me all week to get it done but I did it.  Since my shins are still giving me a little bit of a fit since I've started jogging again I decided to jog only 3 times a week rather than 4.  I would like to build up to jogging 5-6 times a week but for now I'll start with 3.  So that leaves me with 3 days of the week where I need some form of exercise.

I've always like riding bikes I've just never really done it for exercise purposes.  This morning after breakfast I: 1st, I sprayed the outside of our house for spiders and bugs.  2nd I pulled weeds in the flower bed and then 3rd I got the bike up and cleaned it off and even rubbed some spider spray on it.  (I get tired of riding my bike and having spiders crawl out on the handle bars or drop on my leg...)  Then when Yana was asleep away I went....that is after filling the tires with air.

I started out kind of slow thinking to myself "what have I gotten myself into".  After I got warmed up a little I noticed that I was riding faster and faster until this dog decided to follow me.  It was a little dog and I wasn't the least bit afraid of it...but...it wasn't going home and the owners were calling for it so I stopped so it would stop chasing and after about a minute of it just watching me and not going home I decided that I wasn't going to wait anymore and kept riding.  It eventually stopped chasing and went home (I hope). 

I had plans to ride for 30 minutes and then after riding for about 20 minutes I decided that for the first time that would be a good start.  I road 4.22 miles in 21 minutes.  That probably isn't much but it is a good start for me.  I hope that each time I ride it will get better and better.