Running 101

It is a common misconception that all who work in the fitness industry love to run, walk or jog. WRONG! Not all of us have the 'running' gene. In fact, some of us HATE the thought of running. I happen to fall into that category. However, I do believe anyone can run and even potentially learn to love to run. Being motivated by a friend of mine who told me she trained and ran a 10 K last year with no running back ground, I decided this summer that after baby was born and after my six weeks postpartum was up I was going to start training for the River Bank. Not just the 5K or 10K either. Nope, I'm going for the big dawg. My theory on this one is 'go big or go home'. So the 25K it is! That would be 15.5 miles for you non runner people...I had to look it up too so don't feel bad.
The Internet is a wonderful thing. Reason #1 - I have found a training program to follow that is made for people like me without the runner gene. Making me feel good about not being the only one in the world to from non runner to 25 K-er. Reason #2 - My hope is that blogging about this will keep me honest and motivated to follow through to the end...the effectiveness of this is still to be determined. And Reason #3 - To motivate people to try it with me. You've heard "there is power in numbers." or maybe it is closer to "misery loves company" but either way I think it would be great to get a big group to train together. I may be crazy but I have already found other people to be crazy with me...thus the beauty of peer pressure. :)
Tomorrow is the big 'start conditioning day'...I found a conditioning program to help me get ready for training...it is 8 weeks long.
This is what the first week looks like:

Week 1 - run for 5 seconds/walk for 55 seconds on the run/walk days

Mon: 10 min run/walk

Tues: 15 min walk
Wed: 13 min run/walk
Thurs: 18 min walk
Fri: off
Sat: 1 mile run/walk
Sun: off/walk

Doesn't seem too difficult.
Let the fun begin!

Beautiful Fall Day

Yesterday was a gorgeous fall day here in H-town. It was only natural to want to spend some time outside. So I grabbed my camera and ran around with Payton snapping pictures as we went.

Carving Pumpkins

Fall is my favorite time of year. Summer is great and all but there is nothing like fall in Michigan. I enjoy it even more now that I have children too because there are endless activities for kids this time of year. One of those activities happens to be pumpkin carving. We didn't carve pumpkins last year because we felt Payton was just too young to enjoy it but this year we thought she would get a kick out of it. She really liked the idea of it but I don't know how much she actually enjoyed it. Her favorite part was definitely drawing on her pumpkin before the actual carving. Bryan & I however enjoyed ourselves but did say it was a lot more difficult then we remember from when we were kids. Our conclusion to this was, of course it was because our dads were doing all the real work.

The black pumpkin is one Payton painted a few weeks ago at a party

Family Photos

Go Blue!

If you know Bryan at all, you know how he is a die hard Michigan fan. So days like last Saturday when his Wolverines play a big rival (Michigan State...boo! I have to say that because my Sis-in-law is a MSU grad & I know she reads this:) we get decked out in our maze & blue gear. The game did not go our way last week...or this week for that matter...but we will continue to cheer them on & hope next season will be different.
GO BLUE!!

Down on the Farm

We have affectionately termed Mark's house 'The Farm' due to his location and the fact he seems to be accumulating animals. It was a beautiful day last Friday so we met Heather, Ava & my mom out at 'the farm' to play. It is a great place to play outside & get a little dirty. We hulled out Payton's rain boots, because that is what we do at the farm...wear boots, and prepared to get a little dirty. Chester even got to come along to play with the dogs. He loved every second of it.

Boots

Mittens the kitten

Gettin' dirty

2nd Annuel Heyride & Pumpkin Pickin'

The Slenk family was again nice enough to have all the 'Wednesday night kiddos' & their mommy's over for a hey ride and to pick their own pumpkins right out of the patch. Not to mention the yummy cookies & juice afterward. Payton really loved the hay ride and wanted to carry her pumpkin everywhere with her. Good thing it was just her size.

Thanks again for having us all, we really enjoy it! Payton & Mommy

With her pumpkin

All the Wednesday night Kiddos
Top Row: Ben (3), Lily (4), Ava (5), Payton (2), Nick (2)
Bottom Row: Vince (8 mos.), Griffin (2), Parker (5), Sophia (2), Cole (2), Addison (11 mos)
Not Pictured: Ella (1), Charley (1 mo)

Cookies & Juice

Charley all snug as a bug