My Father’s Day tribute

As a child I remember knowing how special my dad was and as I watch my children sparkle each time VC walks in a room I know they feel the same way.  I hope that you are surrounded by the fathers that are special to you today. 

These 3 men teach me daily.  They teach me as a mother how to let the to do list go sometimes are just have fun.  They teach me as a daughter how to appreciate my elders.  They teach me what it means to balance careers and family, what it looks like to come home at the end of a long day and still have just a little more to give.  I love these men endlessly and I thank my lucky stars for being surrounded by such amazing fathers.

My dad.

A man who took me on my first run.  A man who taught me the art of good conversation, who inspired me to be unique and who will always tell me he loves the sound of my voice every time we talk.

My brother

The bravest man I know.  A man who will never stop loving life even if it challenges him.  A man who has simultaneously raised an outstanding little girl and defined himself as an adult.  I will never stop being in awe of you Hans.  I will never stop learning from you.

My husband.  

A man who defines love.  Who is always the most patient person in the room, who laughs, hugs and plays with his children every single day.  Who dove head first into fatherhood with no fear and has proven himself to be even more amazing than I could have imagined.  A man who we all fall in love with just a little more each day.


Life in Photos – races, cupcakes and giggles

yipee! Its the weekend

Basketball anyone?

hanging. wearing my robe.

cupcake makin ladies

race 2/9 for the preggomamarunner

yo yo yo ... G2 is in da house.

but really he's just a love bug

and shes just a giggle bug

all fun ends in sheer exhaustion ...

Hope you all had a great weekend … I’m currently holding my breath and hoping that the G-Men dont force me to run too many miles.

Who are you rooting for?

I have a confession …

I am not 100% all of the time.

I mean on any given day we all have a ton of things going on … We all juggle the different pieces of our lives.  I know that I am not alone in feeling like there is pressure to manage all aspects of life perfectly at all times.  Honestly, I will tell you that I do not do that.  I go through phases when I’m overwhelmed and I just need to set some balls aside and focus on the core few – family & fitness.

January is usually one of those months.  It happens every year … I get reved up making resolutions and new plans and then I hit a phase where I need to slow my roll a bit.  For the last few weeks my family has been hit hard with stomach flus, ear infections, sinus infections.  You name we have had it – cycling between the 4 family members.  I took nature’s sweet little message and I focused in on my family’s and my own well being so that we could all get back to healthy living.

Does that mean that I have let a few 2012 resolution slip?  You betcha.  Does that mean that all is lost and I will be writing off my resolutions.  Not a chance.

See, we are all human folks, we cannot expect that we will be able to manage everything in life to 100% all of that time.  The trick is to have the confidence to say “yeah I let things slip a bit, but I am not going to get frustrated.  This was not a failure”

I have loved the past few weeks of quality family time, I always love family time, but its special when we shut out the rest of the world and spend time with just the 4 of us.  I needed these few weeks.  And now I’m ready to put my clown shoes on and pick back up with juggling!

Here are a few highlights from January family dayz.

loungin with papa

snow day!

for real mom, I hate this hat

I cant feel my face!

goofy grin

photoshoot!

Anyhow, I hope that you can all take away from this post that its OK to loose focus and momentum, just have the confidence to know that you will get back on track sooner than later.

My week is fitness filled, I have the following commitments:

  • Monday – Figure 4 (complete! Super hard and leg shakey!)
  • Tuesday – 4 miles speed drills + Stacy bootcamp workout (complete! again, leg shakey)
  • Wednesday – Figure 4 and 4 easy miles +Lululemon Run Club
  • Thursday – 5 easy miles
  • Friday – REST
  • Saturday – 3 easy miles, maybe some yoga
  • Sunday – ING Miami Half Marathon!

I have been keeping up with running, even through the snow storm!! So I feel very ready for the Miami Half. Game plan and tracking details to come tomorrow!

What are your fitness commitments this week?  Do you live in NYC and want to come to the Lulu run club?

Details are: Lululemon on Madison Ave and 85th Street @ 6:30pm.  We will be focusing on hill running and proper form!  All levels are welcome and encouraged! 

Snow running!

Family Pic :) I heart sledding with the G's

Highlights from the Week

4 family members, 4 rounds of stomach flu, 4 days.  I’m not complaining, I mean at least we all had it on different days.  However I should have bought stock in Lysol last week.

Learning that one of my husband’s hidden talents is hearing oncoming G sickness and catching it with a towel.  Shockingly this talent did not come up in our courtship.

Oh the carefree days of a flu-free life!

Sleeping for a record 12 hours, only to get up and deliriously state that I was going for a run.  In shorts.  In January.  This is my brain on stomach flu.

Finally feeling better and going to a Rockin Railroad music class with the G’s.  Scene: 30 kids and parents, 2 singing “railroad conductors” who were there to educate the 9-18 month old babies about music history.  The train literally fell off the tracks when they attempted to detail the history of Motown, to babies.  Moms in NYC, please spare yourselves and don’t buy a ticket on the Rockin Railroad.

Thankfully I was able to chase that bumpy ride with a Figure 4 session.  Oh how I love this workout.  Its honestly the best barre method in town.

Heading to Champs Sports to buy boxing gloves for my bootcamp workouts with Stacy.  As I was standing clueless in the boxing glove aisle (sidenote: there is a whole aisle dedicated to gloves!) the sweet salesman came up to me and said “You want pink.  Right?”  Clearly I look fierce.

but yeah, he's right. Pink. Always pink.

Life.  It certainly keeps you on your toes.

Any of you have a funny story to share from the week?

 

A MUST read!

Happy Friday everyone!  I hope you have a fun weekend ahead.

I can across this amazing post yesterday via Christine and I just had to share.  Jaymie a.k.a The Bull Runner is a woman after my own heart.  Not only is she an avid marathon runner and mother of 2, she is also a Filipina.  VC’s family is from the Philippines and while I am not of Filipino decent, my children are raised with heavy Filipino influences.

You MUST read Jaymie’s post Date a Girl who Runs.

Some of her poetic masterpieces are:

“Date a girl who runs. Date a girl who chooses to move than to let the world pass her by”

“You will laugh because she gives so much importance to running as if it was her entire life. But, you will learn later on that it only shows how passionate she can be about what is important for her.”

“When you marry a girl who runs, the only time you will see her slow down is when she walks down the aisle towards you”

“She will never force your children to run, but they will learn to love it when they see her passion for running. She will make living a healthy, active life easy, natural, and best of all, fun”

Jaymie, you make me PROUD to be a runner.  Thank you.  I hope to meet you one day in Manila :)

You also make me love my husband just a little more for the antics that he accepts and participates in.

Dating a runner ...

VC and I began running together soon after dating, when I used to trick him into long distance running.  We have now run 3 marathons and 3 half marathons together!

How about you?  Do you love a runner or are you a runner who is loved?