Training, Traditions and Time For Play.

Happy Wednesday! I'm going to have to make this a random post today seeing as my morning coffee/self time is quickly coming to an end and it is almost time to wake these wild things up and let our wild rumpus begin!  So a bullet post it is....at least until I have more time to compose my thoughts.  

• I know I've shared the picture above before and it is Runninghood's facebook profile picture, but I'm sharing it again this morning because it says so much of how I'm feeling right now with my upcoming training.  
• I'm still read, read, reading about marathon training!  I know that it would be easy to just pick up any plan and follow it but I'm really trying to wrap my head around all the science behind the training plans.  
• Base building is going really well.  I will be following a 20 week Boston training plan so that means that I don't start official training for another few weeks.  This gives me the month of November to keep building/maintaining mileage.  
• I'm realizing that although I didn't run a ton of miles this summer, I built more of a base than I thought.  It was a win win win of a summer.  I had fun, didn't have serious training on the agenda, but I still maintained a lot of what I had from my spring/early summer marathons.  With the random speed workouts, races that I "jumped" in, and other few weeks of training for the Girlfriend's Half-Marathon last month, I feel quite strong in my base.  Running 49 miles last week felt good. 
• Still trying to determine how big of a jump in weekly mileage I can safely make.  I want to take my training to a new level this time around but I don't want to get ahead of myself and end up being injured before I even reach half-way.  Finding that balance between setting lofty goals/dreaming big with being realistic about what is safe and wise.  70-80 miles as my peak seems okay right now but I'm not so sure how my body will respond.  And I know that some of these miles will have to be what some refer to as "junk miles".  Not so sure that they are worth it just to increase my mileage volume.  Still researching that.  
• Always Learning!   

Halloween was FUN!  We had one of our better family dress-up nights.  It was truly magical to see how excited my kids were.  I grew up never being able to celebrate Halloween and so I've held on to some of those feelings but after this year, I'm dropping those old feelings.  Halloween is what we make it to be.  In my opinion, it is a fun time of year for kids to dress up and be kids!  A tradition. And for us, it is an opportunity to make memories and have fun with our kids!  It doesn't have to mean anymore than that. However, I respect how others choose to celebrate.  It isn't for everyone.  

Motherhood bullets:

• I've been reading a book about growing grateful kids and it has given me lots of little things to apply to my daily life.  Today's chapter was about PLAYING with our children and enjoying them.  This was good for me to read because I get so one-tracked in my daily living. Always cleaning, reading, training, planning and thinking to the next thing.  This is all good too...part of being on top of things but I'm going to make a point of sitting down with my family more...to just play!  It can be as simple as giving piggy back rides or building a lego tower.  Or letting my kids perform a play and really stopping to watch them.  
• As serious as I want to be with my marathon training, my quality time with my kids and my husband comes first.  This is important to me.  It is also important for me to share my goals with my kids and allow them to see me working hard and reaching for a goal.  This is a great example for them and I think it is always good for mothers to have a chunk of their life for THEMSELVES!  I see too many stay-at-home-moms get lost in their family without having their own goals or things they do just for them...girl nights with friends, self-pampering, athletic goals, and other interests outside of keeping baby books and making sure they are making fantastic memories for their kids.  All this is WONDERFUL and admirable but I think it is so important to nurture and empower ourselves too!  
• Time to make our yearly gratitude jar and start filling it up for Thanksgiving!  It really makes more sense to have this thing going year round but it never seems to last.  

1.  Do you keep a running log, running journal, or calendar with your training?  
2.  What are some traditions that you have incorporated into your family life?  I'm always looking for traditions to help make memories for my kids.  One of the things we try to make a regular thing around here is date nights with our kids.  We try to take turns with each one of them so they each get personal date time with mom or dad at various times.  Also, this gratitude can is a big one for us.  And on Thanksgiving we all have cards we write on and read before dinner.  The cards then go into a gratitude album with our picture for that year.  It is a special book to go back to look at year after year.
3.  Don't forget to check out the jewelry giveaway I have going on.  Awesome stuff for athletes, mothers, and so much more.  
  
Amanda