Sport Skirts and the Eastern Trail

Despite the initial weather forecast we ended up having pretty decent weather this weekend. I just got a new running skirt I have been dying to try out. I have been wanting one of the  Sport Skirts gym girl skirts for a while now. I have heard alot of great things about them and that the shorts underneath stay put even with long mileage. I got the opportunity a few weeks back to get one for only $25.00 here at Zulily (warning this site is addictive and has insanely cute kids apparel). I loved the skirt, it was comfortable and the shorts did in fact stay in place. It wasn't too short and the skirt didn't come up too high (this girl has a short waist). This one was a size small and fit great.

Saturday I wasn't able to head out until about 10:30am and it was pretty hot and muggy by then so I hit up the Eastern Trail in Saco. From the Eastern Trail website:

The Eastern Trail (ET) is a scenic 65 +- mile signed bike route that starts at the Piscataqua River in Kittery and ends in South Portland, Maine. There are several historical landmarks along this route: breathtaking vistas, recreation spots, and great places to eat. Our routes and maps are pre-marked and geo-tagged with various points of interest—allowing users to better plan their bicycle rides and cycling trips.
Today, the Eastern Trail has a growing span of off-road sections. Eighty-five percent (85%) of the trail between Arundel and South Portland is on off-road sections.

We really are very lucky here in Maine to have such amazing scenery, an abundance of places for the outdoor enthusiast and a nice running community with enough options in scenary to never get bored.


Starting point from Saco at Thornton Academy

 

Cop-a-squat anyone?


 No seriously am I the only one that pees behind trees while out for a run? Anywho. I got in a good 4.75 miles. It was great.

Sunday we spent most of the day by the pool. The kids were beat and took extra long naps in the afternoon (Score for Mommy). Unpictured was all the laundry I did while they napped. You know what dirty  laundry looks like right? I don't know where the heck it all comes from! I should do some a few times a week to make it less of a chore. While I was folding it I happened to turn on Long Island Princess. Have you seen that show? Absolutely ridiculous!!! I swear some of the shows they put on tv now.

Probably getting ready to hit me in the head with it...

If we could all look this cute naked

Do you run the same route all the time or mix it up? I have to mix it up or I get bored. Do you do your laundry once a week or a few loads throughout the week?

Confessions of an emotional eater

This is me after a long day

  

Yes, I am an emotional eater. There I said it. They say admitting a problem is the first step right?


Let's be real. I love my kids more than anything in this world but they can be ALOT. They are demanding, they like to say my name a bazillion times in a row and throw themselves on the floor crying because the other one looked at them.

Don't let these sweet faces fool you

After a busy day at work the last thing any of us want to deal with is two whining, crying kids. However, this is the reality for most of us. OFTEN. Far more often than is necessary! I get stressed. Alot. Sometimes before I know it I am shoving a few cookies in my mouth to "ease" the stress. Sometimes after the kids are in bed I find myself mindelessly eating. Life is stressful and can throw alot at us.


Food and I have been around the block and have had our ups and downs in our relationship. We've come a long way though. However, as much as it has evolved immensily into MOSTLY healthy habits. I still find myself resorting to emotional eating or binge eating when stress or anxiety hits.

 I certainly don't have all the answers but here are a few things that I have learned along the way:


Don't let yourself get too hungry. Eating too little through out the day can often lead to unleashing the binge monster at night. If you are overly restrictive in your diet it WILL come back and bite you in the butt.

Get your sleep. I know that when I am tired and cranky I am much more likely to binge and eat things I wouldn't normally eat.

Distract, distract, distract. Most of us eat out of boredom or just because it is there. If you are not truly hungry then get out of the kitchen. Call a friend, read a book, go for a walk. Do something to take your mind off of it.

Wait it out. Sometimes I find if I am really craving something that if I wait ten or fifteen mintues the feeling will pass. If you still really want whatever it is then go ahead and have a little just don't over do it.

Go ahead and eat it. This follows with the last point. If you are constantly telling yourself that you can't eat that "bad" food ( I hate that term) then you are bound to binge. Use common sense. Eat healthy (80/20 rule) but still allow yourself the treats you love in small portions.

Don't beat yourself up. DO NOT get down on yourself if you mess up. We are human. We will all make mistakes but all you can do is brush yourself off and keep moving forward.

Rexamine your diet. If you are finding that it is happening often it may be time to sit down and look at exactly what you are eating. Often times if I am eating too little or not enough protein I will feel very "snacky" often. Myfitnesspal is a great application to hekp you track calories and see how many you should be eating, how many you are burning exercising.


We all have bad days. I have a bad day more than I care to admit.

See, me having a bad day

I am still working through my relationship with food. It is never the answer and I never feel better after stuffing myself full food. Hopefully some of these tips can help you too.



Do you ever emotional eat? Have found anything to overcome it? I also pray alot when I am having an especially hard time. I know it's not for everyone but this does help to ease my mind. God never ceases to provide me strength my I seek him.

I love to run

This statement couldn't be more true. Running is my therapy. I have always WANTED to run. Watched other people running down the road and thought that looks great. I wish I was doing that. I was not a "natural runner" and it never was just easy. I tried many a time, wasn't very good at it and left it again still watching those other runners longingly.

It wasn't until after I had my second daughter that I picked up running. Running was therapeutic for me. Let's face it I needed any release I could get. I left my ex-husband for the second time when I was six months pregnant with Ella. I didn't know what the hell I was going to do or how I was going to do it but I knew it was not the right situation for me or my kids to stay. So raising two little girls completely on my own has been extremely stressful, tiresome and scary at times.

Like alot of other people running is my "me time". Even greater than that of any other exercise, for someone that shas struggled with body issues most of my life, it was something far beyond losing weight and burning calories that made it appealing. It was the push to see what my body could do and how far I could go, the time to have all the anxiety and worry of the day set aside and the fun of exploring places you drive by everyday but seeing how differently they look on foot and saying I never noticed that before. Sometimes I will listen to music either spiritual and uplifting or something with a pumping beat to push me on. Sometimes there is nothing better than the silence and listening to the rhythm of your feet padding along against the pavement and getting lost in your thoughts. I love the running community and reading each and every story of why they run and what it does for them and how racing events are put together for good causes.

After running my very first race last November I was hooked. I absolutely love it.

I was that person running down the road that I always envied. It was the first time I ever did anything for my body that was related physical appearance driven. My body was stronger than ever after having two babies, I was stronger than ever after having two babies. No one could take that away from me. It was such a liberating feeling.


How has running inspired you? How or why did you start running?

A quick hi and hello

Greetings from Bayview Beach. Hope you are enjoying this lovely summer day too. 

Fun fact friday and why you shouldn't be me

In no particular order here are some random facts about me:

1. I have to get any even dollar amount at the pump when filling up for gas, like $42.01 kills me (OCD much???)
2. My ultimate pet peeve is grammar. Too instead of to and their instead of there (nails on the chalk board). Hello people the iphone has spell check, no excuses!!!
3. I have twin siblings that are one year younger than me ( 1 year and 20 days to be exact and yeah I feel bad for my Mom)
4. Yes, I am sorry I do sometimes laugh when my kids fall down or get hurt. I immediately make sure if they are okay though but yeah I am a bad person
5. My name is Tara (tar-uh) and am ALWAYS called (tear-uh) and actually my boss whom I have been working with for three years still doesn't even call me the right name. I have given up though and let her call me what she wants.


While my blog is also suppose to be about running truthfully not alot of running has been going on in my life. Truthfully sometimes its easier to just throw in one of my insanity videos and bang out a workout. Truthfully sometimes I am lazy and don't get up early enough or am too tired after working all day and catering to my darlings to head out at night when it isn't too hot.

Beach to Beacon is right around the corner though. I got a free entry through work (I work for TD Bank) and was able to save myself  $40 bucks. Wahoo!!!! I need to get bacl on track for this.


Don't be me!!!

Nothing is more annoying than heading out for a run and turning on the Garmin to read low battery. Grrhh. I try to remember to plug it in after every run but apparently didn't.  So alas, I had to use Mapmy run.

Don't be me!!!

I ran once last week so yeah I was huffing it through this run. I generally dont allow more than three days between runs or I die. Last night I died.  I am getting back on track with a three run a week minimum (two shorter faster runs and one long distance)



Pay no attention to that wigit in the corner! The daily mile log that has zero miles because A) I forget to charge my Garmin and B) I keep forgetting to login and enter my Garmin serial number. I even set an alarm to my phone to remind me to do so last night and forgot. Epic fail!


What are your weird habits or pet peeves? Tell me please I am not the only one that always forgets to charge my Garmin? Anyone doing Beach to Beacon? IT'S ALL GOOD, IT'S FRIDAY BABY!!

Surviving mornings in one piece

Let's face it mornings are crazy. Trying to get yourself and the kids out the door is stressful and chaotic. I have compiled a list of tips that make my life easier and help to keep sanity in our house.


1. Get up with the alarm. This may be a no brainer but is a tough one for me. I actually set two alarms about ten minutes apart. The second alarm is on my phone across the room. I set it to a crazy loud ringer so that I bolt out of bed. Yeah, I struggle. If anyone wants to volunteer to be a wake up service let me know.

2. This goes hand and hand with number one. Got to bed at a decent hours. Most of us need at least a good seven to eight hours of sleep. So unplug early, relax, unwind and get your butt into bed at a decent hour.

Reading a nice book before bed

3. Plan your outfits ahead of time. Lay out your clothes the night before so you dont waste time in the morning digging through your closets and piles of clothes in the laundry basket you keep meaing to put away (or is that just me). This is especially helpful when living with a diva that is very particular on what she wears. Let her pick out what she likes the night before so there is no fighting in the morning.



Diva in the making

4. I make sure to pack lunches and snacks the night before as well. Have everything packed in your lunch box in the fridge or lined up on the counter the night before. Have bowls and cereal out ready to go for breakfast.The girls each have a backpack they take to and from school everyday. You get the idea...

5. Get yourself and the kids showered and bathed at night. One less thing to do in the morning. If you are like me and have to blow dry and straighten a huge mane of hair its best to do it at night. The kids generally need a bath every night in the summer anyways to wash the sunscreen and clean their hair. (Every other night works just fine for us in the fall/winter months.)

Still young enough to like bathing

6. Last and not least relax. Things don't always go as planned things happen. Your daughter will dump a whole box of cereal on the floor, you will realize it is your turn to bring in snacks for class, your child will throw herself on the floor screaming because she can't have macaroni and cheese for breakfast or you are like me and snooze past the alarm clock ten times. Unpredictable things will come up but just do your best to move along.

It's all good Ma

It is not easy for most of us in the morning but with a solid routine in place life can be a whole lot happier. Now if I could just get up regularly in the morning to get my workouts done that would be a huge bonus.


What routines do you have in place to get your family out the door in the morning? Are a morming exerciser? How the heck do you do it? Tips are most welcomed.

Weighty Issues

The scale holds heavy meaning for many of us in determining what kind of day we have and how we feel about ourselves. I know I have a love hate relationship with it. I spent many years loathing my body. Wishing I was taller, thinner, better this, better that and it never ends. That tiny seed that is planted into our heads has a way of growing and morphing into an all consuming thing.

A place of everything and everything in it's place.

The scale does serve as a tool to measure success on one level but doesnt read the whole picture.I am sitting about 10-12 pounds heavier than I wish to be. After I had my second daughter I have struggled to get back there. But that is not the WHOLE picture of health, a meer number on the scale.

My body is doing things I never thought it would do. I am running faster and farther than ever before and I am stronger than ever before. I am honoring my body by feeding it healthy and wholesome food. I am ignoring those little voices that tell me lies. This body has birthed two children, run many a race, lifted many a weight and I refuse to believe that I should do anything but honor the one body I was given. I have two little girls who look up to me and watch my every move, listen to my every word. If for nothing more than that I want to honor my body so that my girls will grow up and have a good self image of themselves, something I dearly wish I had.

So I choose to focus on what my body can do and appreciate it for all it has done for me. Yes I have goals, yes I want to improve myself, yes I would like to get back to where I felt was my "happy weight". I refuse to let it become the self consuming negative talk that manifests once we allow it in.

How are you honoring your body? What are some of the things you do to set examples for your children? Do you use positive mantras?