Weekend Spendend

That was pretty much a made up word, but that's the way I feel about the weekends usually most people spend way more during the weekend. I went shopping with my Mom for my big girl job to get some nice dress pants, and about six sweater/cardigan shirts. I did really good because it was all on sale! I was super excited. I got some great deals from American Eagle, Benetton, and Ann Taylor. Saturday night I just hung around the house with Noah and Stevie. Sunday we went to church, attended a baby shower church luncheon, and then came home and took a nap. It was fabulous. I then reheated a bowl of chili and made some rice krispie treats, and went to Wal-Mart with Noah to get some snacks for class on Tuesday. This weekend won't be too busy. I hope to get lots of school work done and then get ready to start work next Wed!! I am super excited. Off to watch the Super Bowl! I really don't know what the pictures are doing over there, but I tried to recreate my weekend through pictures, the stores I went to, chili and rice krispie treats, and then the church I went to. Maybe i will fix it later. Any suggestions on what is going on or how to put the pictures where i want in the post would be helpful!

Be Right Back

I wish I was on vacation like I was in the picture! Hello Vegas! I haven't been feeling very good, terrible headaches,so blogging at the computer is not what I want to be doing right now, I will post something fun tomorrow! Last night and tonight I have been taking it easy and trying to stay away from technology!!

One Day It will all Make Sense

I know I just started graduate school in January with hopes of becoming an Early Childhood Teacher, but today things may have changed for a little while. I am going to finish the first semester in this MAT program, but the rest may have to go on hold for a while. Only time will tell. I did accept a job offer today. I had applied for the job soon after I quit the hospital in hopes of getting a different job, but in the nutrition field and still be on my way to becoming a dietitian. I disliked the hospital so much that I decided to embark on going to school to change career paths. I got a call in January a week after I started school that I had an interview with Department of Social Services in South Carolina for a position for WIC as a nutritionist. I went to the interview and haven't heard anything in three weeks. Today I got a call that I was one of the 3 chosen for the position. There were three spots open and I took the position. There are lots of reasons why I took it number one is the pay, number two is the benefits, and number three is if I work for DHEC for a year I can do their internship, while still working for them part time to become a registered dietitian. Whereas all the rest of the internships you have to pay and work 40 hours a week for nothing. Right now with school I can still manage all my classes because they are offered at night. I do not know yet how the rest will fall as in if I will go in the summer and continue the program, or try to take classes when I can to eventually finish the program. I cannot pass this opportunity up and if I don't take it I will never know if I like it, so I am going to try it for a while! So pray for me that I make some sense of my life in the next 3.5 months. It is going to be busy managing work, school and home life, but I can do it! My motto is like Nike...Just Do it!

MY HEAD HURTS

This is what I have felt like all day....an orange with screws in it! No really, I have had a headache literally all day. It has been faint at times, and really at times. Right now it is tolerable, but after I post this I am going to shut my little eyes. I was highly surprised today when I pulled into Noah's daycare to see that it was open! We were really just going to go see because Winthrop still had classes today, but Rock Hill school district was closed and usually daycare runs on that schedule. I think Noah was more happy than me to go to school today. Two days in the house with Mom and Dad...enough!!!! I love him, but the kid doesn't quit talking...ever. I mean literally he talks in his sleep some nights. He's been good, but all over me. Again I have a love/hate relationship with that. I love that he likes to cuddle, but hate the fact I can't get house work or school work done because I have a monster of a three year old crawling all over me! I know when he is in High school i will want to re-live these days!


Besides the tension headache I have had all day I did make it to class, to the Y and then to the library to meet with my group about a project for class. I came home and had some of Chef Boyardee...I know gourmet and a pear and then I preceded to get acid reflux...so with my tension headache, a very hyper three year old, and my esophagus feeling like it was burning I was not a very happy mommy. I love marinara based foods, but I cannot eat them!! I just don't know why I have to keep reminding myself that.


On a good note for the day a little present arrived for me in the mail. Stevie and I work out, and I am always trying something new, and well since I put running on the back burner for a couple of months I decided to order P90X. We got a deal off  Ebay and it came today. We are going to take measurements and pictures and do it for 90 days to see if it really makes a difference. Hey maybe we can become the new models for the product, haha not! It will be fun, I bet Noah will even try to do most of it with us! So we will see if it really works or not, I do my perfect push ups like the sheet tells you to and I was not ripped in a month, and I have done it for several months!

I'm off to dreamland!

Sunday's Are Never My Rest Days

Most Sundays we are usually up, showering and hustling to make it to church, but this Sunday our church was canceled due to the overnight black ice and such. Thank goodness most of the snow melted today while the sun was out shining! I got lots of stuff done, even though this is not how my usual Sunday’s are. I cleaned the downstairs, worked out on our elliptical, played with my weights, fixed some lunch, and worked on school work all before 11:45! I was super excited how early in the day it still was. So I was just thinking  about explaining a little bit about the series I ran in and will be running again.

It is the Run For Your Life Grand Prix Series. In 2009 there were 9 races, but in 2010 there are 10 races. They are all the same as last year except they added a Great Harvest Bread Run. You can visit their site Run For Your Life and check out upcoming events, store events, and register for races. If you do the total of 10 races you have to register by March 12th and the total cost is $150. You can choose to pay race by race also. There is about 1 race a month until November. It is a great way to meet other runners, socialize, get fit, and compete. Most do it just for fun though! In running it gives you something to work towards during each run you run. Such as if you have a 5K coming up you may work on speed, but then when the 15K comes around you need to focus more on distance. Running is not for everyone, but everyone can learn to run. I started with just 15 minutes on the treadmill and worked my way up to many 10-12 mile runs. I do encourage you to set a goal, sign up for a race, and get busy training! 

Snow 2010

Noah got his wish! It snowed!!! He was up at 7:30 ready to go get in it. I talked him into staying inside till about 10:00, then we went out for about an hour. His Daddy was out there with him most of the time. I just don't like it. He loved sledding down our driveway to the end of the street. Kids just don't care how wet, cold, or red their faces are! We came in and got showered and went to a Birthday party that was not canceled because of the snow. It was at a church in York and the roads getting there were not bad, because they were main roads. It was good to get out of the house and let Noah see some of his school friends. He had a good time and so did Mommy and Daddy! We got home around 6 and he went to his room and feel asleep watching A Bug's Life with cars all over his belly. It's 8:30 now so I am hoping he sleeps all night and doesn't wake up at 5:00 a.m.! Stevie and I are now relaxing watching this Miss American Pageant! He doesn't really want to watch up, but we are!

Other update I know I originally set up this blog to talk about health and running, but now I am working on this for class I am just going to be talking about everyday life. I ran a half marathon Dec 12, 2009 in 1:42 and that has been my last major run. I ran one 7 mile run, one 4 mile, one 3 mile and one 2 mile run between then and now. I am slowing down a bit from running because it has been really hard on my body, so I am just taking a break till my season starts back in March. I did win 2nd overall in the Run For Your Life Series and I will be running on their team this coming year. In the mean time I have been doing the elliptical for about 90 minutes everyday to keep my endurance for when I start doing long runs again, since your body doesn't really recognize the type of cardio you are doing. So that's where I am right now with running, but I will get back in it and hopefully be better than the last time!

While I was away I took Noah to get his three year old portraits done. These were done on the campus of University of South Carolina. I have none of daddy because he was working.My cousin's wife took these portraits. She has her own company. You can view her site here:http://www.brooketurnerphotography.com/index2.php?v=v1">.

I'm back

I am going to start posting on here regularly again! I have been learning a lot in my master's program about technology, so I thought it would be fun to work on some of those things here and get this blog up and moving again! So follow me again on the journey of Running Mama!

Camera Broke

Here are some pictures from the beach over Noah's three years!

Running History

I find it appropriate to talk a little bit about how I started running, since the title of my blog is Running Mama. I have always worked out. When I was young I played almost every sport. I tried basketball, soccer, swimming, dance, volleyball and track. I just loved competing and being a part of a team. In high school I started working out with a personal trainer and learned the importance of strength training. I was pencil thin then and was trying to build a little bit of muscle. After high school I went off to college, first at the University of South Carolina, then tried Clemson University and finally found myself back in my hometown at Winthrop University majoring in nutrition. I worked out here and there between those years doing the elliptical and strength training and for a while I went to a boxing class, but my love for running came after I had Noah. I wanted to loose the baby weight, tone up and build some endurance. I also found it very stress relieving and my time for me when I was hitting the pavement. I started slow though. I would try fifteen minutes on the treadmill at the gym every other day to get my body ready. After I got used to that I started to run at a local park and would try for two laps, which is about 3 miles. I then just wanted to push myself further and harder, not for anyone but myself. I truly get the runner's high. I started running 4, 5, 6 7 and 8 miles. Now I run 10 and 12 miles at times. My dad suggested that I start to do some races, so I agreed. Last summer I did my first official 5 k ( I did a 5 K in high school, and the Charleston Bridge Run in college), but this was to see where I stood. I was actually having surgery the next day to remove a Baker's cyst from my knee, but I ran and got 1st in my age group, and 4th overall out of the women. The next Monday I had surgery, and had to wait a bit to race again, but within a month and a half I was doing it again, this time I got third overall, and my time was right at 20:56, or something like that. Then I did a 10K later in the year and ran it in a little over 44 minutes. I really started to like racing, so at the start of this year I signed up for Run for Your Life's Grand Prix Series. It is a total of 9 races, and you get points each race based on the winner's time. So far we have had 5 races. Here are the times for my races:

Shamrock 4 miler: 27:23
CCPC Skyline Run 5 K: 20:46
Moves for Twilight 5 K: 20:58
King Tiger 5 K: 20:24
Run For Your Life 4 miler: 27:14

Each race I was first in my age group, and as of now I am number two in the series overall out of the women.

There are 4 races left. Two 5 K's, one 10K, and one 15K.

It's exciting to try and do better each race, but each race has a different challenge because all the courses are different, which is why my 5 K times vary, as well as injuries. I ran with my IT band giving my trouble in two of those races. Running isn't easy, it takes your mind, body and soul to be able to do it. This is how I got started and where I am right now. Next post I will go over some injuries and things I have learned through my running experiences.

Hayley

My First Post

So, I read probably 20 blogs everyday and I thought it would be a good idea to start my own. I am no expert on anything, but I do know a lot about nutrition and health as well as being a mom, wife and runner. It can be a struggle to balance it all, but through this blog I am going to start publishing how I try to achieve and find a balance. To start here is some background information about me. I am married to a wonderful man named Stephen. We got married in December of 2005, in May of 2006 we had our first child Noah Lyle. In these years I finished school with a Degree from Winthrop University in Human Nutrition and am now working on my application for their dietetic internship and hoping I get in, so I can be on my way to become a registered dietitian. In my spare time I clean and exercise. I know it doesn't sound glamorous, but I love it. I am an avid runner and am competing in a series in Charlotte, NC. Right now I am number 2 out of the women so I am doing pretty good I would say. That is a little information for now, but

please join me as I blog day to day about my food, life, and activities. Sorry this is not too creative yet. I am new to all this and it's too late for me to figure it out right now. I will get better I promise.

Hayley