This weekend was pretty amazing! My hubby and kids definitely took my Mother’s Day weekend to a whole new level. My husband is always so supportive of my activities and the things I arrange for the family. I try to make sure that our planning is done together, but it’s still hard when things start to play out, especially as the boys are getting older, as I find we’re already running around so much from activity to activity.
My weekend started with a date night with my girlfriend. She had won her work’s Biggest Loser challenge – she had the highest percentage of weight loss in her whole company for a 3 months period. We started running together this time last year, and just overall being in this whole healthy and fitness journey. She had asked me for some tips (water, don’t forget to drink your water!) and just overall company on some workouts as she got to the end of her challenge, so we went out to celebrate her win. It was a great time to just relax after a crazy week. Work has been so busy with a lot of change going on, and she had some emotional things happening too – after the last couple of weeks, we just needed to get out!
Saturday morning was then spent running to various classes for the kids. Gymnastics, swimming, home for lunch and naps, etc. While they were napping, I left to meet my girlfriend Rachel for my weekend long run. We normally go first thing in the morning but my Sunday was going to be booked with the Run Like A Mother race and Saturday morning was nuts… so we adjusted. Luckily it was a beautiful day, but it was a wee bit toasty out. We were on a generally tree covered path for most of it but even then I managed to work on my tan. It’s definitely the start of full-body sunscreen coverage season in the South!
My girlfriend on a short cool-down walk on the Mountain to Sea trail after our 10 mile run.
Sunday morning the whole family was up and at ’em bright and early to get to Run Like A Mother. This was the 5k that started it all last year. My girlfriends and I decided to take up running, starting with Couch to 5k and picking a race to run at the end of it… and this was it! Last year, we completed the race in almost 46 minutes. They year, I am proud to report that I finished in 27:20. My best time yet! It’s a tough course – very hilly and in the middle of the road so no tree coverage for shade. The weather was beautiful… sunny with a little wind that we were running against at points, but really the hills were the biggest challenge. Thankfully, I’ve been running on hills for a while now, but it still makes it hard when you’re working on beating a time you set in your head. I was in the range that I wanted to complete in so I was happy overall.
Made Mother’s Day brunch of pecan waffles from the Bobby Deen cookbook. Side of turkey sausage, fresh strawberries, and lots of coffee.
The best part was seeing my family at the end. They aren’t able to make it to most of my races as they’re too early or just inconvenient to navigate. I’d rather not make them deal with that. But seeing my two babies and my wonderful husband at the end… they’re the reason I started this journey to a healthy lifestyle.
It was also a bit surreal to see the before and after photos comparing my race last year to this year. My girlfriend, Jess, and I were good about taking pictures so we could get a side-by-side comparison. Unfortunately, our third Musketeer couldn’t make it, but we signed up for a run later this week so we could still live our moment of glory together.
2015 vs 2016
Leading up to the race this weekend, I did back off slightly on my workouts. It doesn’t look like it in my schedule, but I reduced the intensity, especially in the cycle classes. I kept the resistance lower at times, or just cut out double workout days that I normally would have done. I focused A LOT on stretching, foam rolling, and general muscle care. My legs feel better and I’m still working on taking it easy on them. I’m not running every single day like I was previously and I’m starting up my PT and regular trigger point therapy again until I can get things back in check.
Here’s my workout recap for last week:
- Monday: Cycle Beat, PiYo (morning)
- Tuesday: Cycle Bar (morning), sat out of my Ramblin’ Rose training as I decided to give my legs a break in the evening.
- Wednesday: Cycle Bar
- Thursday: Ramblin’ Rose Tri Training, all 3 disciplines as an indoor tri because the weather was gross out. Zumba in the evening.
- Friday: Cycle Beat, Zumba (morning)
- Saturday: 10 mile run (afternoon)
- Sunday: Run Like A Mother 5k (morning), Barre Sculpt (afternoon)
Mother’s Day weekend was a little (ok, maybe a lot at times) indulgent. As usual though, it was pretty planned for so I didn’t feel bad, especially because I got the workouts in to make up for it most of the time. Here’s what this week is looking like in our meal planning:
- Monday: Tomato Basil Lasagna Roll-Ups, light recipe
- Tuesday: Turkey tacos (taco salad for me), black beans, corn
- Wednesday: Rotisserie chicken, TJs gnocchi, peas (we didn’t have this last week as planned so moving to this week)
- Thursday: Bobby Deen’s Goulash recipe
- Friday: New chicken burger recipe that I found in a magazine
- Saturday: Homemade bolognese and spaghetti. Salad.
- Sunday: Chicken bundles from Junior League Raleigh cookbook. Lightened version. Homemade mashed potatoes. Broccoli.
How was your Mother’s Day weekend? Did you get any workouts in, or maybe just some time to yourself? Rest is important, too!
