“All I Do Is Win!” (but who or what loses?)

I’m plugging through my 1/2 marathon training and I’ve created a 1/2 marathon playlist on my ipod. The fourth song is Dj Khaled’s “All I Do Is Win”. My runs are getting progressively longer, so this song is part of my warm-up. When the song comes on, I get a little more pep in my step and my motivation starts to increase. I’m a very competitive person, but most often, I compete against myself. One line in the song says “All I do is win, win, win, no matter what…”. I have seriously considered how realistic is is for me to train for this race while being a wife, a full-time homeschooling mother of 4, exclusively nursing an infant, and teaching cycle classes. Whenever I hear this song, I recommit to running the race in February. This is a goal worthy of obtaining, but like with most things, there is a cost.

My long run on Friday was 1hour and 50 minutes. The run was on the treadmill and according to my Nike+iPod it was a little over 10 miles. Now, this is where I can use some serious Mamavation! I have 4 runs/week and now that I’m getting closer to my scheduled race, my shortest run is 50 minutes. I’m starting to feel totally exhausted when I get home and trying to muster up the energy to be “Mommy” and “Teacher” is really starting to be a challenge. My husband is fantastic and supportive, but we are literally passing ships when I walk in the door from the gym in the morning and he is on his way to work.

The wonderful thing about homeschooling is the flexibility. I usually like having everything “school” related (and I use that term loosely; a story for another day) completed by lunchtime, but recently, I exercised my authority as an administrator and shuffled some things around as needed. My “power hours” are between 4pm and 8 pm; the only time I have any energy after my workouts. I’ve accepted this unorthodox routine because it’s totally temporary, we will take some time off during the holidays, and hopefully I can rest without any guilt.

Thankfully, my husband didn’t marry me for my housekeeping skills, because while “All I do is win” this is an area that is is truly losing! (and cooking is a close second!). I have redeemed my family and rescued them from the abyss of some thrown together dinners. Tonight was a big score on the healthy meal front; grilled salmon, sauteed green beans, baked butternut squash, mushroom risotto , and wheat dinner rolls!

I continued my routine over Thanksgiving while I was in DC and enjoyed a  1.5 hour run around the National Mall during my stay. I’ve lost a little more than 1lb, so now I am about 8lbs from my pre-pregnancy weight. This is baby #4 and at 41, this is the quickest I have lost the weight. I attribute it to the running, teaching cycle classes, and my experience with Weight Watchers after baby #3.

This week honestly….I’m just committing to getting out of the bed every morning and staying on my training grind. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday are run days and Wednesday and Saturday I will teach a 1 hour cycle class. Water, food tracking, and strength training are all areas that need my attention, but I will be doing good to not come home and stay in bed all day. Here’s to a “winning” week!

**This is Princess #4, who will be 8 months in a few days. She has officially entered the “busy” stage and I’m sure this contributes to my chronic exhaustion. I know I’m biased, but she’s totally worth the interrupted sleep, bags under my eyes, and constant state of delirium, and so are her 3 sisters ;-)**