There were four in the bed...

And the little one was the quietest! I climbed into bed last night wit high hopes. Eli had powered through and been awake for over an hour, then eaten drank his little heart out, all by 930pm. I laid down, went to sleep almost right away ( a real treat for this mama), feeling completely relaxed. Then midnight rolled around and Darius was whispering at my bedside. I pulled him into bed, and he cuddled into me and drifted off to sleep. Eli called at 2am for more food, followed by my awesome husband climbing into bed at 3am. Eli was quiet until 630am, when he wanted another top up, and then it was time to get up and cook breakfast for Darius. Sometimes I wonder if I'll ever sleep through a night again - and if I'll remember how to do it if I get the chance. Needless to say, exercise is ESSENTIAL after a night like that! Without a good heart pumping, energy boosting workout I would might turn to sugar, which puts me on a mood-busting sugar roller coaster.

Sooo, I continued on with the training plan found in the March 2011 issue of Oxygen Magazine (discussed here) and today was steady state cardio for 45 minutes. I had to maintain an RPE (Rate of Perceived Exertion) of 5-6 for the entire time, which made for a comfortable, stitch free run. For those of you that don't know the RPE scale, think of it like this: 1 means sitting on the couch, and 10 is the pace you'd maintain if being chased by a rabid dog - nice thought eh?
Here's my results:
Surface: Treadmill
Incline: 2%
Warm up: 4 minutes
Run: 41 minutes
Cool down: 3 minutes
Pace: 5.3-6.2mph
distance: 4.15 miles

It felt great! I didn't need any walking breaks due to the steady RPE which keeps the lungs breathing comfortably enough to talk, just not full sentences (more like short answers!)

Darius is a big 'nerfer' as he calls it (invest in a Nerf hoop - our whole family loves to play on it!). Thanks Uncle Brayden and Jessica for getting my little man-o on the right track!

The boys and I are gearing up for March Madness to continue this afternoon, so I need to go and get some house work done before preparing the snacks! Need some healthy game day snack ideas? Check back later!