The Bartlett Family Adventure

The Bartlett Family Adventure is all about the moments that take my breath away as I grow in the glory of God, and live my life to the best of my ability while raising two rowdy boys. This blog is not just about me, it also includes stories of my family's daily adventures. We home school our boys, are trying to grow our fruits and vegetables, we are all on a journey to God, we are trying to live sustainably, and most importantly love the life we lead. Sometimes we stumble, but mostly I like to think we prevail. I am blogging to keep a sort of shared journal. Our life may be messy but it is perfect.

Wednesday, May 20, 2015

Bad runs

Yesterday when I went out for my evening run my calf cramped up just under the first mile. I stopped at one mile and stretched. My leg hurt. I don't believe in running through pain. I walked and ran when I thought I could. I have two boys and in order to run with my husband we have them ride their bikes ahead of us. My youngest son fell off of his bike causing us to stop to make sure he was okay. When he asked if we could head home we agreed.

Today I am going to share my splits that my Tom Tom watch recorded for me.

Distance 4.19 miles
Duration 1:03:57
 
Mile 1: 11:47
Mile 2: 16:14
Mile 3: 19:01
Mile 4: 12:36
Mile 5: 4:18 this is just the .19 distance over four miles.
 
I didn't pause my watch when I stopped to stretch and you can get an idea of where my son crashed. It was hard to push past the first mile but I am glad I did. I feel like I'm training. I my goal is to finish the marathon in less than 5 hours. In order to do that I need to do at least 11:26 minutes per mile that pace would put me at finishing at 4 hours 59 minutes to finish in 4 hours and 30 minutes I need to do at least 10:18 minutes per hour. I feel like these are reasonable first marathon goals. My husband has a stretch goal of finishing in four hours! That is 9:07 minutes a mile!
 
To be honest the idea of running 26.2 miles in 4 hours or less and over 5 hours makes my stomach turn! Good thing I still have 26 1/2 weeks to train! I am still extremely nervous and feel unprepared. Am I crazy? I don't know, maybe. Lucky for me today is a rest day.
 
I hope your day is filled with inspiration, love, and laughter. Be well friends.

Monday, May 18, 2015

27 Weeks until Route 66 Marathon

There are 27 weeks until the Route 66 Marathon and I am nervous, like really, really nervous. I have been reading blogs about people who have finished their first half or full marathon and it is inspiring but I want to know how they got there. Yes they said they were nervous but they are writing in retrospect. I've also been reading seasoned marathon runners and more often then not their posts are sponsored by some product they are trying out. What I am looking for is the training period. Does anyone else get panic sweats thinking about the total miles and or time it takes to run a Marathon?

I'm starting week 4 of my training. Hold your applause please let me show you what that looks like on paper.
  Mon Tues Wed Thurs Fri Sat Sun
Week 1 Rest 3 mi EZ CT 3 mi Rest 3 mi 5 mi
Week 2 Rest 3 mi EZ Rest 3 mi CT or Rest 15 mi 5 mi
Week 3 Rest 6 mi EZ CT 4 mi 7mi 3 mi 6 mi
Week 4 Rest 3 mi EZ Rest 4 mi CT or Rest 3 mi 4 mi

The red means I did not do those miles. The Sunday before my first week I ran/walked a half marathon in 2 hours and 38 minutes but at the end of it I felt empty which has only served to fuel my fear.

Week 1 was mostly a rest week. I started highlighting the days with blue for finished miles, or red for not finishing the miles. As you can see the red is kind of scary like I am failing more than I am succeeding. I walked 3.2 miles on that Thursday and counted it as a fail because it wasn't running. I might be a tiny bit to hard on myself but then I think about 26.5 miles and my stomach turns.

Week 2: Was a little bit better but I still discredited some of the work because it wasn't running. Tuesday I walked 1.16 miles around a mall while waiting for my son's glasses to be ready to pick up. Saturday our family did a 5k fun run and then walked 10 miles for relay for life. We rested on Sunday.

Week 3: I increased my miles but I only got in two training days. Sunday which is our long run day it stormed all morning, when we run, I had plans for the afternoon and by the time I got home at 6 my husband felt it was too late to start a run and we needed dog food. So I went to the store for dog food and a couple of things for dinner.

Week 4 starts today. Today is a rest day and I'm killing it! I had a fruit, and spinach smoothie for breakfast and for lunch a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, I made the jelly. I have no idea what we are going to eat for dinner... Pasta with peas.

I know that is random compared to what we have been talking about but it is also the kind of thing I want to know. I don't know what I am doing, and have a vague idea of what a healthy diet looks like. I believe in a whole food diet and an 80/20 rule. I don't want to beat myself up over what I eat so I allow for some bad food. I'm going to share my journey all the way up to the finish line this year. I hope you will follow along and be my cheerleaders.

I am scared of the training and the miles ahead of me and I hope that in some way you might be inspired to conquer your own fears, or set goals that feel impossible. I know if I can do this so can you. If you have any questions about what I am eating, my goals, times, shoes, clothes ask. There is no off limit questions. I promise to be honest about my training. If you have advice please share it with me. I can use all the help I can get.


 I hope your day is filled with inspiration, love, and laughter. Be well Friends