ABCs of Me

I came across this on another blog and thought it was cute, so of course I decided to steal the idea. :)

(A) Age: 33...going on 34 next month. I LOVE being in my thirties.

(B) Bed Size: King.

(C) Chore You Hate: Cleaning the Bathroom.....There are 3 boys in my house, need I say more? *gag* Putting laundry away is a close second.

(D) Dogs? We have Ozzie (9 year old pug), Lucy (6 year old Keeshond mix), Rex (3 year old Lab/Aussie Shepherd mix--my best pal) and Sugar (11 month Yorkie-she is definitely Jim's dog. Cute, but really flipping annoying)

(E) Essential Start Your Day Item: Caffeine and a good 30 mins of alone time before I am fit to communicate with other humans.

(F) Favorite Color: Dark purple or lime green

(G) Gold or Silver? Silver

(H) Height: 5'6"

(I) Instruments You Play: None since grade school band...well unless you count Rock Band (ha!). I played the clarinet (not very well) back then.

(J) Job Title: At Work-Assistant Professor of Nursing. At home- Moooooooooooommmm or Baaaabbbby followed by "Do you know where (insert item) is?"

(K) Kids: 2 boys. Zach (11 going on 15) and Brock (6)

(L) Live: Southern Illinois.

(M) Mom's Name: Mary

(N) Nicknames: I'm not cool enough for a nick name I guess. :P

(O) Overnight Hospital Stays? A few

(P) Pet Peeve: Bullying, passive-aggressive behavior

(Q) Quote from a Movie: "Nobody puts baby in the corner"----Dirty Dancing (RIP Patrick Swayze)


(R) Right or Left Handed? Right

(S) Siblings: One sister

(T) Time You Wake Up? Depends on the day. If I am lecturing it's set for 5:50, on clinical days 4:30, and if I'm lucky enough to get up without an alarm I'm usually up around 7 or 7:30.

(U) Underwear: Really? Well yes, I definitely wear them. What else is there to say here?

(V) Vegetable You Dislike: Okra or lima beans. I will eat pretty much any other vegetable.

(W) What Makes You Run Late: The children. I always blame the children and not Facebook or surfing the internet. ;)

(X) X-Rays You've Had Done: Chest, foot. I think that's it.

(Y) Yummy Food You Make: I'm actually a pretty decent cook when I get the chance to take my time. My favorite things to make are Italian dishes and desserts.

(Z) Zoo, Favorite Animal: Penguin house (probably because I always manage to go to the zoo when it's super hot outside).

Legs For Life 5K

So, today was the first race of the year and I won't lie I've been pouting a bit this afternoon about my finishing time. I did manage to finish about 2 1/2 minutes faster than last year's time on this course but I did TONS of walking last year and was hoping for better. I think the biggest reason I am upset is that I think that once I started taking walk breaks they lasted longer than I really physically needed them to which means part of this is a mental block of not pushing through and that's very frustrating to me. I like to think of myself as more determined so it's a bit of a blow to the ego I suppose. All that being said, I am trying to keep in mind that this is in fact the first race and my slow time today leaves plenty of room for improvement. I also have to be a bit real with myself that I had been pretty well sedentary for most of the winter months up until about late February and maybe I set my expectations a bit too high. Enough with the pity party though...moving on.

The weather has been a bit wonky around here to say the least. At the beginning of the week we had beautiful weather in the upper 70s. However, by mid-week our forecast for this morning's race was predicting rain and temperatures in the low 30s with possible snow. Ouch! We received word that the registration center was being moved to a nearby school gymnasium and barring any severe weather, the show would go on so I did my best to prepare appropriately. I tend to wimp out in cold weather but since I knew this was my friend Miranda's very first 5K there was no way I was backing out! I did end up scoring a great deal on my very first article of Under Armour Cold Gear in the process (at 40% off no less), so that was a plus!

Of course I was up by 5:30 this morning with nervous anticipation. I tried to down as much water as possible because I never seem to really drink as much as I should. I also knew I should try and get some fuel in my belly (my belly was not real sure it was ready for anything though). I decided I would have to settle for one of my Mojo Clif bars on the drive there and even that was a bit of a struggle to get down. I met Miranda in the parking lot and we picked up our packets. This year the shirts were made of wicking material...very nice! With about 15 minutes to start we headed over to the starting line in the park. I couldn't make up my mind to keep my jacket on or off so I ended up just wearing it which turned out to be bad move #1. I also had a non-wicking heavy headband on to keep my poor ears from freezing off. Bad move #2. I haven't seen the post-race pictures yet, but I can only imagine what they look like since I ended up unzipping the jacket (didn't just discard it even though it is old because my luck I would have forgotten to take my car keys out first) but by race end I was running with jacket unzipped and flapping around and had ripped the headband off my head and shoved it in a pocket. Clothing lesson learned! :)

I did pick one girl that was pretty much my pacer for about 3/4 of the race. When she would slow down and walk, so would I and when she would run again I would too. I think the idea is good..but maybe I need to be a bit more ambitious with who I pick the next time (like not letting Miranda get out of my site!) because I think I am really taking walk breaks even when I might not REALLY need to, or at least longer ones than are actually needed. Must work on that! Closer to finish we ended up walking together and chatting a bit and then took off for the finish together. She ended up beating me by a few seconds. Miranda was waiting at the finish line to cheer me on...she had a great first 5K. I was so excited to see her that I forgot to turn the Garmin off after I finished!

My next 5K is April 16th, so I do have a couple of weeks to work on doing some things differently. I do think I need to approach this a bit more sensibly with an actual plan instead of just randomly running when I make the time if I want to improve. I'm a big fan of Jeff Galloway's plans since they incorporate both running and walking to get faster times but I haven't had a chance yet to get a schedule written out so that will be my first task to get done this weekend to start fresh next week. Obviously, I do hope to make it through a 5K with no walk breaks ASAP and also start building up to longer distances as well. Since I managed to jump in too fast too soon the last time I need to stay sensible, but I am determined to get better. You have never failed until you no longer try.

Here we are pre-race. Notice the big ugly headband and the fact that I had my jacket off.

Doggie Drama

Rex, Lucy and I went out for a quick run this afternoon to enjoy the beautiful weather that is unfortunately coming to an end tomorrow as rain and a 20 degree temperature drop are in our forecast. The first part of the run was great and our pace was about 20 seconds faster than what I've been averaging. Unfortunately, the neighbor's dog (I live out in the country so by neighbor I'm talking the couple that live about half a mile up the road ;)) decided to take an interest in us. This dog has been around forever, I can't even imagine how old he is, but since Rex doesn't "know" him, I figured we better use a bit of caution so we walked for a bit as to not inadvertently put him on the defensive. Well, that plan was just great until he decided to follow us! So, I had to redirect our path to loop him around back home and head back towards my house to finish off on the trail that runs along the back side of our property. No such luck again as my aunt (also my neighbor) happened to be on her way home from work and stopped to chat. By that time, I decided to just head back to the house. So, it was nothing fantastic, but at least I got out and did something. Not bad for being up since 4:30 this morning! There are plenty of times in the past that would have been an excuse to not get out and moving.

In other news, Brock (my youngest) has finally lost his very first tooth. I think he was probably the last in his class and the silly thing had been loose for six weeks or better. He was thrilled that the tooth fairy remembered to visit, and also very inquisitive about what the tooth fairy does with all those teeth. I can't believe my boys are getting so big. Am I really old enough to have a 12 and 7 year old?!?!


P.S. If someone can remind me how to add links/widgets etc. to the sides of the blog, I would be very grateful. So far, I'm just drawing a blank when I click in the "Design" tab.

Back In The Game

I had almost forgotten about this little blog that I started last summer, until I recently started revisiting the running blogs of some other very inspirational ladies. It was fun to go back and read about my enthusiasm and determination to really embrace running. I ended up running into (ha, no pun intended) some medical issues last year that pretty much sidelined me until after Thanksgiving. Of course, by then I had fully entered into that lazy state that is so easy to maintain during the cold days of winter. Even the new year with all the lure of setting a resolution didn't help. I finally decided enough was enough back around the first part of February though, and I'm happy to report I'm back on my journey for living my best, healthy life. It's been a bit of a reality check to essentially start over from scratch, but I'm finally making peace with that and just happy to be back in the game.

Coincidentally, my first race of the season is next Saturday and happens to be the very same race that was my first 5K ever. I'm looking forward to sharing the experience with friends that are now racing for the first time. I also have something new looming in my future...an obstacle mud run. I'm signed up for the 10K Mud Run for MS in St. Louis on May 7th and also a 5K Mud Run to support the military in June. I won't lie...I'm a bit intimidated because I've never thought of myself as much of an athlete and these are definitely athletic events. But, I also strongly believe that it is high time to stop thinking of myself in terms of "what I am not" and instead finding out just who I am. It's a great way to step out of my comfort zone.

I'm also hoping to find some local running partners soon. While my dog has been an amazing running partner, I think it's time I start working on cultivating some healthy friendships with others that are looking to lead a healthy lifestyle. I know they are out there! I've recently started following the group Moms Run This Town (MRTT) on Facebook and am now thinking it's time to think about a southern Illinois branch. :)

What's New?

This was one of 25 thought-provoking questions from a link posted on another blog I read (Thanks, Robin!) and although many of them spoke to me, this one seemed most fitting for this week. We all tend to be creatures of habit, some of us more than others. There are certain things about myself that I have always just identified as true. I am NOT a runner. I am NOT an athlete. I do NOT wear pink. I do NOT golf.

Then I went and caught this little running bug and for whatever reason, one of the side effects has been a bit of an awakening to how much else that is out there that I really wouldn't mind to try. You know, just to see if it's as "not me" as I think it is. So, when my husband asked if I wanted to come along to the golf course and drive the cart so we could hang out as a family today I said, "Sure, why not?" Now, we've been married almost 12 years and I'm pretty sure he's heard "I do NOT golf!" about a zillion times so you can imagine his shock when I threw in that I'd rather try to play than just sit and drive the cart. It turns out it wasn't quite as horrible as I remember. I don't plan on joining the golf league any time soon, but it was a nice to spend time together outside of our usual dinner and a movie date routine.

So what else did this anti-golf, non-pink wearing, unathletic, non-runner do today? (I'm sorry in advance to anyone offended by poor use of the English language...I have a terrible habit of typing like I speak) Well, I got up before the sun and ran in my brand new pink running tank. So maybe I'm a bit of a late bloomer. They say that the thirties lead to not caring about fitting into the old labels that have always bound you. I am really starting to agree.

In other news, my dear husband ordered p90x which arrived in the mail today. He has decided this would be another good way to spend time together. Yikes! I'm willing to give it a try though to see how it goes. However, training for the half is still my priority so I may have to make some adjustments to just how much I participate. The race is on though and there is a VERY sweet prize system set up for the major milestones at 30, 60, and 90 days. Garmin, you will be mine!

My Running Partners

These two are my pace setters. Laila is a boxer/lab mix and Rex is an Aussie Shep/lab mix. They spend most of the time we are out looking behind them making sure I didn't give up and turn around to head back home.

Lucy is a Keeshond mix. She never strays from my side. I think she's still confused every time I leave the driveway without the car. Or maybe she's worried I'm running away and not coming back when the boys are all driving me crazy. :P

Jumping In

I'm a planner. I also find that when I want to know about something, I REALLY want to know about it. Just check out the overflowing bookshelves in my house if you need any further proof. Thank goodness for Kindle which has cut down (slightly) on the amount of time I spend driving to Barnes & Noble or waiting on a shipment from Amazon. So, it's really no surprise to me that I've spent a good chunk of the last few weeks delving into any information I can find about running. One book that I finished within a day this weekend was The Non-Runner's Marathon Guide for Women by Dawn Dais. The title in itself was appealing to me, but her accounts of her own not-so-glamourous journey to race day left me laughing out loud. I could definitely see a lot of myself in her story.

The thing about being a planner though is sometimes I tend to get lost in the planning instead of moving forward into action. Or on the other side of the coin, throw myself completely into my "grand plan" for about 2 weeks until my body collapses in exhaustion. I guess that's why I've tried to really downplay this endeavor...as if to warn those I've told that they shouldn't expect to much because "remember, I'm not really a runner." At some point though the people that are runners went from being not a runner to being a runner. Which leads me to wonder when I will feel like I am part of the club? It's strange...when I'm running a 5K event, I don't feel out of place at all. Now, don't get me wrong I definitely feel slow but I don't feel like anyone is thinking "What in the heck is that girl doing here?" Yet somehow when I look at my Runkeeper stats I just feel absolutely defeated. And I have to find a way to stop that negative self talk, because it is the same road that has led me to give up before.

Today I ran 5 miles. While that is a short run for a lot of people, it's still a long run for me. I still didn't feel the "runner's high". I still sighed when I saw the 13:48 pace. But then I took a minute to just celebrate the fact that I spent over one whole hour doing something to better myself in both a physical and psychological sense. It's still leaps and bounds from where I was only a few short months ago. One day at a time, right?