Lacking Motivation

I have been trying to post this week, but I just can't seem to find the time or motivation.  It's finals week at the college and even though I am a "12-month" employee, I still have a lot to do before the semester ends.  So, I have been a bit overwhelmed.  But, I have a lot of fun stuff to post, including a Mother's Day recap. So, stay tuned.  I'll be back soon!

In the meantime...here's a sneak peek...from my new camera!

Morning has broken...

For the past two years, most of my workouts have occurred during my lunch hour.  Since I had a new baby and a child in elementary school when I added exercise into my daily routine, mornings and evenings were not good times for me to exercise.  Luckily, I work at a community college and have free access to our college gym.  We're a small community college, so our facilities aren't that grand, but we do have an indoor track, an elliptical, and a weight room, which is all I need.

This arrangement worked fine for the past two years, but it wasn't ideal. I don't always have a free lunch hour depending on meetings or college events, so many times I would have to forfeit a run or elliptical session because of work demands.  Once I began running longer distances, the hour I had wasn't really enough. 

So, a few weeks ago, after missing a lot of runs and mid-day exercise sessions, I had a long talk with myself.  Just in my head...not out loud...although those talks occur too.  I realized that it was time to change my routine and find a way to exercise either in the morning or evening.  I quickly determined that the evenings are out.  I don't really like to exercise at the end of the day.  After a full day of work, I just want to hang out with my family. 

So, that leaves early morning for me.  Now that Ben is no longer a baby (sniff, sniff) and Amelia is more capable of getting herself ready in the mornings, early morning exercise is doable.  So, I started running and going to the gym early each morning and it's working out great! I love my new schedule!  Every morning, my alarm goes off at 4:50, and I hit snooze once.  I have to hit snooze.  I can't seem to get up without doing so.  I'm out of bed by 5:00 and dressed for my run or the gym by 5:10.  I can't exercise without some caffeine in my system, so I spend about 30 minutes drinking coffee and water.  I also need that time to "get things moving" if you know what I mean.  I like my system to be "cleaned out" before I start running or hit the gym.  I'm out the door by 5:40 and I'm done by 6:45. 

That's when Ben and Amelia tend to wake up, so I don't even miss any time with them in the mornings.  It's great!  I can start the day with my exercise already completed and I don't have to worry that I will miss a workout because something else comes up.  And, I get the extra perk of an empty gym and my choice of equipment.

I don't think I can ever go back to lunch hour exercise.  Especially since I now spend my time eating and reading blogs!

Hills + Heat Wave = No Fun!

I can't believe I'm even typing the words "heat wave" in the middle of March.  This weather is so crazy.  Yesterday, it hit 80 degrees!  Seriously, our normal temperatures are 30 - 40 degrees at this time of year.  The lilac bushes along my driveway are sprouting leaves, which doesn't usually happen until May!  It's just so bizarre.  But, like all good things, this too must come to an end.  Today's temperatures were lower and next week is going to be in the 40's and 50's.  There's even a chance that we could still end up with a big snowstorm in the coming weeks as it is not uncommon to have a March or April snowstorm in Upstate NY.

I have been running outside during my lunch hour, and it has been difficult to adjust to running in the high temps.  Two weeks ago, I was running in 20 degree weather, and my body is still in cold weather running mode.  I usually have time to gradually adjust to warmer weather running, but this was not the case this past week.

Yesterday, I decided to do some hill work during my lunch hour.  The college where I work sits atop a very steep hill and we have a pedestrian road that runs parallel to the main road.  I use it a lot during my summer runs.  The hill is intense!  If you look at these pictures, you'll see what I mean.

This is the first thing you see when you look up from the bottom of the hill.

Then, after you crest the top of the first steep part, you see this ahead of you.

But wait, you're not done yet.  This is the last section of the hill.

The total distance of the hill is about 1/2 mile, and it's really steep.  I don't know the exact elevation because I forgot to wear my garmin yesterday, but I do know the elevation is pretty intense.

Since it's quite the climb, it's a popular spot to do hill work. 

Yesterday was tough.  The intensity of hill work combined with the hot mid-day temperatures and glaring sun did a number on me.  I really felt it and ended my run really sweaty and a bit overheated.  I only ran the hill six times, which is just over 3 miles, but it did me in.  The rest of the afternoon I was exhausted and felt like I couldn't get enough to drink.

I love this warm weather, but I definitely do best in regular spring/fall temps of around 50 degrees.  That's my comfort zone.

Making it Work

As you know, I work at a community college, and while I do teach part-time in addition to my full-time responsibilities, I do not have summers or breaks off.  I'm a 12-month employee.  This week is spring break which means all students and full-time faculty are off.  It also means that the childcare center that Ben goes to is closed. Since it's a college childcare center, they are only open during the semesters when classes are in session.  So, those of us who work year round are forced to find alternate care for the breaks.  I spent three weeks arranging childcare for Ben for this week.  I had each day carefully planned out and an arsenal of babysitters lined up to hang out with my funny 2.5 year old.  But, as is the case with these kind of plans, they fell apart the first day.  So far, my childcare has fallen through three out of four days this week.  This means that I have had to leave work early and/or take time off so that I could be home with Ben.  You know, because it's frowned upon to leave a 2.5 year old home alone.  Don't get me wrong, I always love an opportunity to take a day off to spend time with my kids.  It's my favorite thing.  However, it's tough when it happens over and over again.  Luckily, I have a really understanding, family-friendly boss.

Having to leave early and take time off also means that I haven't been able to run since Sunday.  I'm down to the last few weeks of half marathon training and I really need to get in four solid runs each week.  That's just not going to happen this week.  I am going to run on my lunch hour today and tomorrow and then do my long run on Sunday, but that's all I'm going to have time for.  Saturday is my swimming day.

I love my job and my family and I feel really blessed to be able to do something I love that offers a bit of flexibility.  However, it's weeks like this that make me feel completely overwhelmed as a working mother.  It can be so tough to find the balance between career, mothering, marriage and self.  Honestly, earlier this week I had a mini-breakdown because I was so stressed about childcare issues and work obligations and lack of running and I found myself telling Paul that we need to figure something out because this schedule just isn't working.  But, you know what, today is a new day and I feel better about the whole thing.  I know that I can do this, even when there are weeks that feel like too much.  I just have to be committed to making it work.

CFC: Day 3

Wow!  Today was another great day.  I can't believe the first three days have felt so good.  I'm wondering if that means the end of the challenge will be difficult.  I even went out to dinner with my family and another family and was able to stick to the challenge...oh, and we went to a pizza place!  I had no problem eating my huge, fresh salad while they all ate pizza and wings, but I do have to admit that it was tough to watch our friends enjoy their delicious beers.  I really wanted a glass of wine.  Earlier in the afternoon, I went to our local pub (it's actually modeled after a traditional pub) with my boss and two of my co-workers to celebrate the end of a stressful reaccreditation visit (oh the joys of higher education).  I drank water while they all enjoyed wine and mixed drinks.  It was pretty difficult.  I'm surprised that alcohol has been my weak spot this time around.  I mean, I do love wine, but I don't drink it every day (I usually drink it on the weekends).  So, I didn't expect to notice it missing from my life this week, but I do.

Here are my eats for the day:

Breakfast:  Surprise!  Overnight oats again.  I really just love this.  Today I changed it up a bit and topped the oats with blueberries instead of raspberries

Lunch:  Huge salad with tons of fresh veggies and chick peas

Dinner:  Another huge salad

Snacks: raisins and almonds, banana, brown rice cake with hummus (I allow myself to eat rice cakes because they are only puffed rice and salt, but some consider them processed and don't allow them), dried cherries, cashews, Lara balls

I'm not usually a banana eater, but I really enjoyed the one I ate today.

I'm pretty happy with my meals for the day, but I feel like I needed more with my dinner.  We were originally supposed to go to UNO because they were donating 20% of each meal purchase to help fund a local children's museum that is in the process of being established.  I had already looked at the menu online and selected the chopped power salad (minus the chicken and feta) and the farro salad. I knew that would be enough to satisfy me.  But, the wait time was 45 minutes because of the size of our party, and we knew that the five kids with us, which included a one year old and a two year old, would never hold it together that long.  So, we decided to go somewhere else.  Since we went to a pizza place, my choices were limited.  Most of the salads had meat and cheese on them, so I ordered a large garden salad.  It was delicious and full of tons of different veggies, but it didn't have much staying power.

So, I'm almost halfway through the challenge and I'm feeling pretty good.  I'm hoping the second of the challenge goes just as well.  I'm wondering if it will be difficult to stick to it while I'm on my girl's weekend in Boston.

What a Week!

Whew!  I can't believe the week is over.  It's been chaotic and overwhelming and productive, and it's finally done.  I'm not done with my thesis, and I still have a lot to do at work, but a lot of the pressure has been removed with the completion of some major projects.  So, I feel like I can handle everything else that I have coming up in the next few weeks.  Unfortunately, because this week was so crazy, I haven't done much picture-taking (with my phone, since I still have no camera), so this post will be picture less.  I also haven't done much exercising, so I don't have much to write about on that end.

But, things are looking up...

I was able to get to the gym today for a quick jaunt on the elliptical, and I have a 6 - 7 mile run on the schedule for tomorrow.

I updated my work calendar for next week and blocked out time most days for a lunch hour run.  So, I'm feeling positive about my ability to stay on track in the coming weeks.

Emilie is planning another Clean Food Challenge and I am already signed up to participate.  We'll be starting on February 27th.

Oh, and I'm finally ready to take this blog to the next level.  Last week, I purchased a domain (unfortunately, My Own Trail was already registered to someone else) and in the next few weeks I will be unveiling my new and improved blog.  It will have a different name, but this blog will link directly to it.  I'm so excited to take my blogging to the next level.  Now, I just have to learn everything I need to know about blogging before I move forward...I'm sure I'll find time for that somewhere in my day.

Better than nothing

To say that work is crazy and chaotic right now is an understatement.  I work at a community college, which means my life operates in semesters, and a new one just started last week.  There are new and returning students to help, reports to write, and programs to develop.  On top of that, I'm in the middle of a couple of major projects that require a lot of my time.  It seems like my day is filled with non-stop meetings and student obligations.  Since I use my lunch hour to get in extra workout/running time during the week, this means that my exercise time has suffered.  At first, I just chose to not do anything because I didn't have time for a full workout, but over the past week I have had to adopt a new attitude.  If I don't go over to the gym for a little while, I won't get any exercise time in.  So, now I go over on my lunch "hour" even if I only have 20 or 30 minutes to exercise.   I'm able to maintain some level of fitness throughout the week and it helps me stay focused at work during stressful moments.  So, even though I can't always get a full workout in, I have to remind myself that's it's still important to do something physical.  After all, it's better than nothing.