Weekend Happenings + Training Summary!

Happy Monday!  It kind of feels weird going two days without chatting much but I figure we can spend Monday’s catching up a bit now with what went on over each other’s weekends!

Saturday morning started by meeting Maddie for a trail run that included a hill (ehh mountain) known as Grizzly.  I’ve only done it 2-3 times so far and each time it kills me.  It is about .5 miles long and it goes up and up and up like the below picture shows for the entire hill.  I’m sure I could hike it faster than running it but I try to keep a bit of a run step in as I go up and every single muscle in my body hurts within 30 seconds of starting it.   We did a total of 10.5 miles with 1,100 ft of gain and I’m just so thankful that with the snow melting (besides the snow storm we had yesterday) I can start getting faster again with the help of trails.

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We then got in some lifting together…

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While Skye and Beretta ran around the yard.   This is definitely a plus of our shed set-up because they get their exercise in too while we exercise.

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Andrew, Skye and I watched the trials and I honestly could not believed how sad I was as soon as I saw my favorites pulling back.  I am thrilled for the people that made it and so excited to follow their journey but I was shocked over how heartbroken I was for the people I have loved forever (Des and Jared especially).  I think the heartbreak comes from just knowing what goes into preparing for the marathon, seeing how hard they have worked and knowing it all just has to come together perfectly on race day.  That course and the wind just looked insane to me and I cannot wait for podcasts to come out with interviews from different athletes participating.  Also, the fact that this was Molly Seidel’s first marathon and she took 2nd place is just unreal to me… she kept saying afterwards that she was in shock and I can see why!

Excited for my friend Abdi (well, he doesn’t know we are friends but Monica and I consider him to be our friend) and his qualifying at the age of 43!

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Skye did pretty great with the big kids gone because she got ALL of the attention.

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When we bought Andrew’s truck we decided to cut something out in our lives as we added a new car payment to the budget and that one thing is eating out!  I have no idea how much we were eating out (probably a total of 3-4 times a week) but now we are just sticking to one time (besides gift cards, people visiting and special occasions) which will probably come close to equaling the car payment!

Week #1 and we did it… We ate out at a place called Chubby’s for our meal out and started off with dessert.

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On Sunday Andrew went to California to pick up Brooke so it was just the two of us.

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As we were leaving church it started snowing and snowed the rest of the day.  I guess that means we better go ski a lot this week!  The rest of the day we stayed pretty lazy and in pjs which was a great start to this week!

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Felt so good to have her come home!

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Here is how last week’s running looked!

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Monday: 10 miles @ 8:16 average with weights afterwards—> squats, deadlifts and bench press

Tuesday: 8 @ 8:35 average

Wednesday:  Trails with Andrew on his mountain bike! 10.5 miles @ 8:28 average

Thursday:  7 miles @ 8:14 average

Friday:  7 miles @ 8:11 average

Saturday:  10.5 miles @ 9:30 pace on the trails with strength training session afterwards (lunges, squats, bicep curls and bent-over row)

Sunday: Off!

Turns out I need Emilee to motivate me to do speed ha… she is back home now so I’ll go for it this week but I am very happy I got in 2 strength training sessions and plenty of trails!

Dr. Stacy Sims (I’m kind of obsessed with her right now if you can’t tell) is really motivating me with strength training.  Loved this post from her… The slowdown is preventable and fixable… my best years are up ahead now that I’m making lifting heavy (for me:) a priority!

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“This kind of (strength) training stimulates your neuromuscular system, activating the maximum amount of muscle fibers.  It also keeps those high-energy, powerful type II muscle fibers engaged, which is essential because those are needed for speed, and they’re the first to go….  The best part is that the benefits of strength training are nearly immediate. Even before your muscles get bigger and stronger, you wake up sleeping muscle fibers and develop neuromuscular connections that result in strength gains after just a few sessions.”  FROM ROAR!

This is her Ted Talk in case you want to learn more about her research!

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Okay, just two more things today…

Andrew said he has never related to anything online more than he does to this hope and dream that he has:

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And Julia sent this to me because she knew that I completely relate with this too:

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What was the best part of your weekend?

What is something that motivates you to strength train?

Anything that you’ve been doing recently to save money?

What are your thoughts with the Olympic Trials?  

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44 comments

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Like you- thrilled for everyone who made the team and so, so sad for the ones who didn’t. I keep thinking how Des pushed so hard in those last miles- so inspiring to see how she didn’t give up. Yes, I’ll be listening to lots of podcasts this week! I don’t like how NBC only showed the leaders- there were so many stories that they missed. I didn’t even realize Molly Huddle and Sarah Hall DNF’d until yesterday! Well, lots of stories to catch up on and now I have some new runners to start cheering for!

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Oh my gosh, the trials! Yes, heartbroken for my favs (Des, Steph, Jared, Scott, Kellyn…) but what amazing stories for the top 3! Like you, I can’t wait for the podcasts to start coming out.
As I get older, I know how important strength training is to help me stay fast and injury free. That definitely keeps me motivated. Also core work and stretching ?
Here’s too a great week ahead!

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Oh yes… now to start being better with core and stretching:) Keep me updated with what episodes you are loving this week! Thanks Wendy and have a great Monday!

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I just listened to the newest episode of Rambling Runner, and Matt mentioned that he is recording a few episodes this week (one today with Kellyn Taylor) with runners from the trials. So just keep an eye out for those :)

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Seriously, next time we want to quit at the end of a race we can all think about how Des fought till the end. She will always inspire us all. Let me know what podcasts you love from this week. I didn’t know that about Molly Huddle or Sarah Hall either until yesterday. Hope you have a fabulous week Jenny!

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I was heartbroken for Des!! I saw how their clothes were flapping in the wind – the conditions looked INTENSE!!

What motivates me to strength train is feeling strong. I love that soreness feeling after a hard strength workout.

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I seriously cannot even imagine running that course + that wind! Unreal. I’m starting to love that soreness feeling too:). Love that that motivates you. Have a beautiful week Jessica!

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I got to go to the trials and I too was so disappointed that Des didn’t make it! I’m happy for Molly to make it but I’m also thinking did she have a really lucky first marathon day? Hopefully she continues to do well but someone like Des you know has so much experience and that helps in an Olympic setting to me.
I haven’t mentioned to my husband but I would like to stop eating ice cream out (easy to spend $25 there for the family) and just buy it to keep at home and eat. I love eating ice cream out but it is ridiculously expensive at the really good places.

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You were there!? Oh that is awesome! I hope this is just the beginning for Molly but I’m with you, I really wish Des was going to be there. We all just love her so much. Isn’t it crazy how even ice cream out can just add up big time? Good luck with the switch and I’ll copy you guys. Have a fabulous Monday!

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Though I didn’t get everything done that I wanted to (ahem, cleaning the house), the best part of my weekend was feeling productive about several key things: time with the kids, exercise, rest/reading, & prepping for the week.
Feeling stronger keeps me motivated to do more strength training :) I’m “older,” and lifting absolutely helps me in so many ways. When I first started strength training (while marathon training), I got significantly faster in every distance. Can’t wait to hear how your next official training cycle goes!
I planned to “check in” on the OT marathon, but I ended up SO ENTERTAINED and watched the whole thing! Spectating a race is always fun, but I wasn’t sure it would be fun watching on screen–it was so clear to see the mental game as well as the physical challenges of the runners, plus being able to see so many. Yes, it was heartbreaking to see some front-runners not make it. By the end, I was seriously cheering for ALL of them :)

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The things you did get done are by far the most important, way to go this weekend! That makes me SO happy to hear about how much strength training did for your running. Wahoo! I am so glad you watched the whole thing, it really was so amazing to see. Hope your Monday is off to a great start Corey!

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I went to watch the trials this weekend and it was AMAZING! The wind and hills were crazy. I had listened to Lindsay Hein’s podcast with the NAZ Elite girls the night before the marathon and it made it more special to see Alphine win! It’s a GREAT episode! I want to buy one of Alphine’s beanies on her Etsy Shop.

It was hard to see all my favorites drop. I understand why they do, but I still wish they would finish. I love that Jordan finished!

Since getting my hip replaced three months ago, I do a lot of strength training. I do hope to be able to run some!

Have a great day Janae!

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Oh my goodness, I am SO happy you were able to be there. It sounded like the most incredible day! I really think strength training will make all the difference for you and I hope you keep me updated on your return:) Thanks Leah, you too!

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I made the superhero muffins you keep recommending and they were a hit! Please keep sharing family friendly recipes. I’m in such a rut with my cooking.

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Oh this makes me so happy! I totally will. Aren’t those muffins the best? I’ll make some today! Hope your week is a wonderful one Marcia!

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Thanks for sharing that Ted talk, I just bought the book. I do nutrition coaching for Team in Training and it’s so hard to change the mindset of people who start running to lose weight. So many women are fearful of calories!!

I bought a subscription to GetHealthyU TV. I strength training with their programs and I get my HIIT and kickboxing workouts there too. The subscription was on sale and I have to say I have been really pleased with it.

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Please let me know what you think of the book and that is so so true… so many of us were trained to fear calories but that does more damage! Oh that is awesome, having a program you can do at home makes all of the difference. Have the best day Nina!

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Super sad on the men’s side to see Ward and Fauble not make the team (Fauble grew up here…Pennel, too). But…super excited to see Abdirahman make the team…big cheers from me in my mid-40s to see that accomplishment from him.

For the women…amazed at Seidel qualifying in her first marathon and impressed at her openess about her past with disordered eating and OCD and the career choices she made to deal with them. Super sad though about Linden – she was my favorite to qualify.

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I have been reading a lot about Seidel since the trials and I’m so happy about how open she has been too, I think she will be able to help a lot of athletes. Also, very excited about Abdi, we all have so much up ahead!
Let’s just hope that Des, Jared and Scott have AMAZING things up ahead for them and their racing coming up:). Enjoy the rest of your day!

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I was sad for Des……4th place has got to be the toughest. And several surprises in the women’s field, and some that didn’t finish. Crazy!

6 days until my half marathon!!!!!!!

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6 days… cheering for you!!!!

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I was sad about the trials too. So excited for those that made it! But I was cheering for Des, Sara, Molly, Steph and Allie :( Loved seeing how excited Steph was about her teammate though, Naz Elite seems like such a supportive team!!

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That was something that really made me happy… seeing the three women from Naz Elite celebrate together. What amazing examples! I hope you are having a great afternoon Mariah!

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Ok, I’m relieved you said you feel sad for your favorites because I’ve been torn between feeling really sad for my favs but wanting so badly to be happy for those that made it. Regardless, I still watched it twice!
Best part of my weekend is probably buying the last pogo stick from Target for my kiddos birthday on Wednesday! I felt like I won the lottery!
I strength train so I don’t get injured. And because it leaves me as hungry as when I run long distances … and I like to eat! Lol!
Some ways that I save money are we cut back on eating out, driving long distances on the weekends and I cut my kids hair and my hair. The hair thing alone saves us a ton of money!
Have a great day!

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Haha YOU DID win the lottery! I need to get one of those for our kids.. how fun. You are not alone in feeling sad about the trials. I feel like with how much the elites do podcasts, YouTube videos, their social media channels etc, it makes us feel really close to them so it’s hard to see them not succeed. Oh I love how you save money! Andrew cuts his own hair too and it saves SO much money! Hope you have a great day too:)

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The best part of my weekend was having my daughters class (girls) birthday party. We had 7 girls over and 4 ended up spending the night. Although they didn’t go to bed until 2 a.m. and our house is full of slime and glitter, it was so worth seeing my daughter so happy and excited. Plus it was wonderful to see what an amazing group of girls she has to call her friends!

My motivation to lift weights is to be strong–it makes me feel powerful AND know that I am helping my bones! After years of amenorrhea and under fueling, I worry about those bones. The last time I went to the doctor I actually “grew” 1/2 inch…I swear it is from strengthening my upper body so I have better posture. I used to have quite the hunchback;-).

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Oh, you are just the most fun mama! So cool that you had them all over and that they had such a blast! You grew 1/2 an inch, oh I love that so much! I’m with you, I hope that strengthening my upper body helps my posture too! Thanks for sharing Becky, I’ll use that all as motivation for me too:) Enjoy your day!

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Hi! Totally off topic but I have followed your blog pretty much since you starred it. I’m a runner too and we move often because my husband is in the Air Force. We are moving to Utah this summer so I’m trying to buy all the winter gear on sale now! Any recommendations for an everyday coat?!

My motivation for strength training is definition! I run so stay relatively “trim” but my body looks and feels so much stronger with consistent strength training!!

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HEY BRITTANY! I am so excited for to move to Utah! Are you moving near Hill Air Force? I hope you guys love it here. So I really am not an expert on this but I use my Patagonia down jackets here. They are warm enough for me and I love the way they look so we all have them and use them daily! Keep me updated with the move and your thoughts on Utah. Have the best day!

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Hey! Yes I’ve loved the blog, and your family for a long time! We will be at Hill AFB! I can’t wait to get some mountains back in my life! Which BTW I’m doing the Missoula Montana marathon next year (I’m originally from MT) and I’ve seen you’ve never done it. It’s a really great race and worth the drive!!!

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Oh that is so exciting! Well, now I need to research that race. Sounds amazing!! Super excited for you to have mountains back:). In my opinion, we have the best ones;)

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PS Brittany, thanks so much for being my friend over the years!

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I was so sad for Des! She is an absolutely incredible athlete and has always been my favourite. BUT I’m so so happy for everyone who made it! Molly’s finish was incredible and SUPER motivating for me! Still can’t believe that was her first marathon. Amazing.

Also motivating: This great article on ultras! So interesting. I really hope an ultra event gets added to the olympics soon! https://www.wired.co.uk/article/ultra-marathon-running-uk-tom-evans (It’s long but worth it haha)
Hope you have a great day!

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Rachel, thank you so much for sharing that article with me, that was very interesting and I WOULD LOVE to see an ultra (preferably on trails but all of them would be fun to watch) in the Olympics. I also loved this line from the article and couldn’t agree more: “Ultrarunning is problem solving,” he says. “Problem solving on your feet, when you’re tired.”
Seriously, Molly was so inspirational to me too! Excited to see all of their journeys! Hope you are having a great day!

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I ran trails for the first time in months with my crew. Now that races are on the horizon, I can no longer be lazy haha. We did 14 miles on the North shore trails and my legs are not pleased today but it feels good to get out there again!

I didn’t watch the trials but saw the results and yes, so many surprises on the US Olympic team.

I recently started keeping track of expenses on an excel spreadsheet. It’s crazy how much more conscious of what you spend when you have to write it down. And that I was a bit horrified on where my money actually went haha.

Hope you have a wonderful day Janae!

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Hahah races in the near future are my biggest motivation too. Glad you got out on the trails and I’m with you, my legs are getting readjusted to them too! Okay, so now I want to do what you are doing and write it all down again (I used to and it helped so much)! Thanks for sharing Kristine and cheering you on for your race training this year!

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Eating out IS expensive! We used to eat out all the time but cut it way back about six years ago when we bought a house. Now our rule is that we only eat out if it’s something we’ve planned in advance and are looking forward to… not just because I don’t feel like making dinner (in that case, we can always make something simple like pasta, etc.) Now we only eat out about once every month or two, but it’s special and fun when we do and so much cheaper (and healthier of course) eating our meals from scratch at home. I hope you love the change like I did!

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Bailey, thank you so much for sharing this with me and I love your rule… that rule sounds perfect for us too. Too often we were just lazy and hungry and would just eat out just because and it really does waste SO much money. You guys re my motivation and I’m excited to see how much we will save (pretty sure we will save more than what the car payment is now ha). Hope your day is a beautiful one!

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Hi Janae! I ran the Zion Half this weekend! Utah is so gorgeous, I love red rocks so much. It was a net uphill course and I come from sea level so I just did it as a fun run. They had so many aid stations and one aid station had girl scout cookies!!! The only drawback is that it was a pricey race (Vacation Races) and I felt a little bad that the money wasn’t going to charity like usual races but it was awesome to do once. Also Zion was the last Utah national park I hadn’t visited so I was happy to check that off.

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CONGRATS AMY and how cool is that that you have gone to all of the national parks in Utah now! I really want to go and do it and the girl scout cookies at the aid station… that is AMAZING! Hope you are having a great day and net uphill… that sounds REALLY hard!

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No matter what you think of the outcome of the Trials, I don’t think many people (or anyone) picked those men’s and women’s teams :) And I think that’s what makes our Trials so interesting and unique to some degree. From other’s comments, it seems like if we all could have pushed Des past Sally Kipyego, we would have. Sally was struggling and I think Des just ran out of road. To make that pass around Laura Thweatt so close to the end, is definitely indicative of how hard she was working. SO MUCH RESPECT to Aliphine, Molly and Sally because the conditions and hills had to be so tough if it dropped Molly Huddle, Emily Sisson, Allie Kiefer, and Sara Hall. While I have nothing good to say about Jordan Hasay’s former coach, I do respect her for finishing the race!! Now, can’t wait to see what Des does in Boston!

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I totally agree with you and cannot believe how tough that course was which will be interesting to see how that plays out on the flat course for the Olympics. YES, let’s cheer for big things at Boston for Des! Thanks for your thoughts Sarah, I loved reading them and it really is what makes our Trials so exciting! Hope you are having a great day!

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I was so sad about the trials! I can only imagine the heartbreak for some of the runners. To be considered one of the “favorites” and then have your race go so poorly… heartbreaking. I think my heart broke the most for the 4th place male. He was SO CLOSE!! Literally steps away from making the team! Ugh, it was so hard to watch….

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Right?! I couldn’t believe how strongly I felt for these athletes and that 4th place male absolutely broke my heart too! We are just so invested in these athletes! You are not alone!

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