1st Triathlon in the Books!

As of this morning I'm officially a Triathlete!! Completing a triathlon has been on my To Do list for awhile but the whole "not knowing how to swim" kinda put a dark cloud over registering for a race.  It's crazy how much I can be motivated from other people and they probably don't even know that they have motivated me!

I consider myself a runner- 5k, 10k, 15k, half marathons and that one full marathon that was just so much fun- right Taylor McPherson?! Judith Spriggs was also a runner but after I did my Disney fun 26.2 miles, but she did a legit 26.2 and didn't stop. This amazing mom started bike riding. I even told her I didn't like bikers... although secretly I was motivated especially after she worked her butt off and completed a half Iron Man! What?!

Run, Bike, and then there was the swim motivation... who would have thought that two little kids could be so motivating.  For three summers Kinnick and Cooper (and the best swim moms) devoted their summers to the Cooper Summer Swim Team. I loved watching their love for the water turn into a compassion of swimming. Many, many practices in all of the elements showed their dedication from summer swim team to trying out and making the Texas Ford Aquatics competitive swim team. I needed to learn how swim. If these kids could, their mom could too! It has been a hard but after practicing lap after lap I knew that I could make 50m across the pool. After a few more practices and YouTube tutorials I can now swim 400m without stopping.
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I registered and trained. This morning I was still scared of swimming, biking, and also running after biking. I want to write a complete post about training and race day but I'm so excited to share my accomplishment!  Here are some of the pictures from today... more posts to come soon!

Important Numbers, Monster Drinks, and Eyelashes ;)

Happy Friday!  I can't believe what this week has done for me!  I'm loving getting back into shape, eating "somewhat" healthier, and finally loosing some weight!  Look at these numbers- these are from Runkeeper comparing January on the left in blue to December on the right in black.  Wow!  And the numbers on the scale are moving too!  

Side note: There are numbers everywhere in life and they are as important as we want to make them! What are your running pace and distance numbers? How many marathons have you ran? Triathlons? Age? Weight?  But then I have had lots of time on my hand and took it a step further with 'Do I spend enough time reading?  Reading God's word? Reading with my kids?' 'What's the perfect number of hours to work each week?' 'How many friends can you have on FB but really have how many true friends in life?' Currently important in my life are all of the above as well as the numbers of days until my birthday and until our Spring Break vacation... (See I have lots of time on my hands!)  Is this a normal thinking, stream of consciousness for you all too?

Completing a Cooper Sprint-Tri is on the bucket list!

One step and a time- you just have to put one foot in front of the other one!

Lastly-- and this is HUGE!  I haven't had a Monster caffeine drink since last Saturday!  Seriously Huge!  I do have to admit though- rather than putting the kids to bed and sneaking back downstairs to watch my DVR full of Bravo reality shows... I have been passing out by 9:30pm!  Fingers crossed that I can work my weekend nightshifts without my former addiction!

Since I had a small milestone this week I had a "treat yo-self" day at the Cooper Spa.  I replaced my Monster drink addiction with my eyelash extensions addiction.  Crazy enough they cost about the same... LOL!  The picture on the left is what happened when my allergies hit an all time high this week and I went to town rubbing the crap out of my eye.  I basically itched all of the eyelashes off and I thought that was the end of my lash experience.  Having one eye looking Friday night ready and the other still looking like Monday morning I quickly booked an appointment with the best lash lady ever at Cooper.  Now I'm ready for the weekend... Like a Boss!

January 2017

Another year has come and gone... heck January 2017 is even almost over!  As you can view on my blog I come and go (a lot) depending on the business of life.  Last week provided me with some time on my hands so here I am -back to sharing my story.

Let me catch you up on the Krazy Kooken family.  Last August while watching our two little fish swim during their summer divisional swim meet I received a phone call offering me a full time position.  The idea of going back to work full time was in the back of my mind since Cooper was starting Kindergarten in the fall so after thoughts and prayer I worked out the details of the new position.

Long story short, my position was to be weekday (night shift) until the previous night shift worker returned from medical leave.  At that time, mid-October (ha ha), I would start working weekend nightshift.  The ideal October date was pushed back and delayed until mid-December.  I enjoyed the weekends off and feeling like a "normal family" but working every night took a huge toll on my family and my health.  I was a tired, cranky mom/wife going through life by holding onto a thread.  I can't help but blame myself for Cooper's rough start of Kindergarten :(  We were going from school, to swim practice, drive thru dinners, and trying to sneak in a nap before I had to go to work at 11pm.  I would snack at work throughout the night to try to stay awake, come home and eat breakfast before trying to sleep during the day, and then wake up for lunch... eating crapy food all of the time without exercise has lead me to a weight gain of over 15 pounds.

So here I am- and ready for a detox restart!  I feel like blogging about my adventures holds me accountable.  This new life style might take a bit to get used to but I can't wait to see where it leads me!  My goals include becoming a better Christian, better wife/mom,  start reading, being content, spending less money, eating healthy, and working out.  Hang on... it might be a bumpy ride!

Until next time-
Heather

Double Digit Week!

Tonight I just completed my third run in 7 days putting me into double digit mileage! Woo hoo!  Folks, this is huge! I've been running a couple miles here and there but not this much in a week stretch since last November. Seriously, that's just as exciting as embarrassing.  So what triggered this week's motivation? We're well into swimsuit season, but we still have those 100* days to look forward to very soon. You would think that my upcoming race schedule would start "some" training, but not so much. Actually, this week we officially cancelled our Disneyland Avengers race for November. (We are going on an AMAZING family vacation and both trips would have Kinnick missing too many school days). So I can thank my Mom's Run This Town (MRTT) running group to get me back into running as well as writing my blog to stay accountable!

 

We had a blast celebrating the 4th of July.  I started the day off with a wonderful, local 5k scoring a cute medal, tech shirt, and a chance to wear my RunDisney Mickey NB shoes. Running through a muddy tunnel is as close to an obstical race as I'll get!  Later, I enjoyed more calories than I burned while celebrating with friends smoked BBQ, swimming, silly string, sparklers, and fireworks!

Besides running this week, I stayed busy as my newest role "swim mom" and loving it! Our kiddos got to swim at their first divisional's swim meet on Kyron's birthday.  We all had so much fun; I'm pretty sure I was just as, or more, excited than they were!  The day ended with lots of smiles while trying out some new gluten free favorites... Blaze Pizza and Unrefined Bakery- both off Preston and Warren in Frisco.  Yummo!

That's all for now- HK

eat, sleep, run, swim, and repeat

Last week was filled with eat, sleep, run, swim, and repeat!  Kinnick and Cooper have been swimming so much- loving every last minute of summer swim team.  Not only are they making friends, keeping active, and getting tan... They are tired by bedtime!  Me too!

Somebody didn't make it through Peppa Pig :)

Besides being a semi- stay at home mom, I really wanted to prove to my non handy husband that I could easily fix our leaking toilet flapper thingy (using my technical terms).  So... browsing the Lowe's plumbing section I quickly learned more than I really wanted to know, but as Mother Runners say, "Go big or go home!"  Our tank "hardware" was old, rusted, and I could replace it all for only a few more dollars than just buying a new flapper thingy.  I called my parent's for their DIY advice and I'm pretty sure that I could hear their chuckles from Iowa.  Challenge accepted.

Long story short, "Jules" from the company's YouTube video said that it would take around 20 minutes start to finish.  Days later our household's half bath is still out of commission.  There's a small leak from the filter valve that connects to the water source. What? Why is that last sentence part of my vocabulary?  Kyron's surprise was not successful but we have enjoyed learning together!

Just because they're cute...

Something that I do know a little more about are: running and fashion.  I am in desperate of new running shoes.  Currently I run in my favorite Newtons but they have many tracked marathon training miles on them.  I have a new found love for Under Armor workout swim mom wear; so I figured that I would have the same interest in their shoes.  They look great.  As for the feel?  Three short miles into my track night run and I'm ready to find my local running store and stick to "running shoes" not so much for fashion.

I'm sweating but the kids found the sprinklers.  Growing up in Iowa I have pranced around in sprinklers with grassy feet lots more than swimming in subdivision pools!

My Fish and Finisher's Jacket

Well, I survived week one of summer break and our kid's first swim meet.  This week will hopefully be a bit less crazy.  On the checklist for the week: VBS with lots of friends, a Swim meet, swim team practice, flag football practice, and lots of call at work.  Ok, so maybe not an easy week.  I am already looking forward to next weekend celebrating Father's Day and being off of work!

Cooper competing with backstroke (his new favorite)

Kinnick reaching long during the relay team

All of this fitness motivated me to change from my flip flops into my running shoes.  Wow!  I am not in shape!  I will stay positive while thinking about running a half marathon in a few months and my second full marathon next winter.  And check out this incentive out!  After completing a lively 26.2 miles I get to walk away with an amazing jacket.  Hopefully, I will be with praise after a sub 5 hour time versus my initial full marathon well over 5 hours (including a roller coaster ride, pictures with Disney characters, and lots of bio-gel stops for my brother).   I will be wearing that jacket with pride!

Lastly, I am loving my pebble smartwatch.  You can check it out here: getpebble.com

On this watch you can add apps to fit your lifestyle.  I enjoy Runkeeper, twistie (for taking pictures), and Misfit.  The app below is from Misfit; tracking my daily steps, activities, and sleep.  What a terrible night of sleep!  I did get a full 8 hours but not very restful.  Next up, in my spare time, I'll have to check out how fall and stay into a deep sleep.  As for now cutting back on Monster Energy drinks might do the trick. 

National Running Day

It's officially summer!!!  No more party planning... 5 parties in the matter of a month can be a bit stressful.  We (my kids) still stayed busy this week with starting practicing for swim team and flag football.  Lets just say I'm already getting a great summer tan! I loved matching my daughter, Kinnick, at church today!  #Lillyfortarget

We also matched yesterday with similar ponytails! After her dance recital we celebrated by going out to eat for brunch.  The hostess and lots of the waitresses commented on how pretty Kinnick was since she was still in her costume, makeup, and curly hair. (Hey, she only wears that costume for one day so she should wear it the whole day!)  Kinnick quickly commented with, "Thank you!"  And with a flip of her pony she giggle, "My hair is fake!"  Just as quick the hostess responded with, "Oh, sweetie!  So is MINE!  She went there!  And so did I!"  We were rolling!!!

Enough about being Kooky!  I know this blog is about running so let me try to get on topic... Running!  Last Wednesday was National Running Day!  Did you run?  I was browsing Facebook Tuesday night and found out that there was an organized run at Cooper Aerobics in less than 7 hours very close to our house.  I quickly messaged my favorite running partner, Judith, to see if she was interested in joining in on the fun.  She was!  And we did!  Starting at 5:30am, we completed a quick 3.1 miles followed by some yummy pancakes.  We didn't even plan to wear the same color!

Throughout the day I was tempted with all of the National Running Day race deals.  You know I love a great sale!  So I'm registered for my second FULL marathon.  I still can't believe it!  Next February, we are traveling to New Orleans for the Rock 'n Roll Marathon Run.  My racing calendar is slowly filling back up and now I need to focus on my training calendar!  Anyone want to join me for a run?

July 4th Red, White, and Blue Run

July 18th  Hawaiian Falls 5k

November 14th Captain America 10k

November 15th Disney Avengers Half Marathon

February 28th (2016) New Orleans Rock'n Roll Full Marathon