Mid-Week Check In

 I've decided that I'm sick of paying for the childcare at my gym.  It's only $3 every time I bring them, but if I'm bringing them 4 or 5 mornings  a week, I'm suddenly paying about 60 bucks a month for a gym to which I have a free membership!  That's total craziness!  So the good news is that by not paying anymore, I'll be helping us (me) stop wasting money, but the bad news is that now I need to figure out when in the world I'm gonna work out.  OhMyGod... where are you going with this?  Right here, people- I'm back to preaching about early morning workouts! 

I've actually forgotten how much I enjoy them.  It's 7:13 in the morning here, totally quiet in my house (miraculous!) and I am already loving this day. The alarm went off bright and early this morning and I actually got up with it and strapped on the sneaks.  Instead of rolling out of bed once I hear the little monster start to wake everyone else (his brother)  up, I now have 3 miles, some free weights, and some abs completely done.  I am loving it.  So much in fact, that I literally do not care that Husband just stuck his head out of the bathroom door and told me that he's pretty sure the towel he just used to dry himself off with has pee on it, and he realized it once his body was dry and he wiped his face.  Yes- instead of being irritated that someone peed all over the floor, I will embrace this and be happy that the mess was cleaned and the towel was rehung. 


Cat's out of the bag, Cherubs... one of you is a
floor-peer.  You're still cute though.
Gross, but cute.

Ok, they're starting to wake up, so the rest of this needs to be short and sweet:

1. Workouts so far this week:

• Monday: Power Body
• Tuesday: a mile on the treadmill and Zumba (another early bird special. Yeah!)
• Wednesday: nada. I couldn't figure out when to make it happen, so it just didn't. Boo.
• Thursday: 3 miles outside, upper body free weights, abs

2. It couldn't have been a more perfect morning to run.  And that's saying a lot, because I think by now, everyone is well aware of how much I dislike this activity.  It's finally no longer 100 degrees here. In fact, this morning it was a perfect 65.  I actually had my iPod charged and ready to go for once so I got to listen to more than just my pounding feet and my heavy breathing/panting/gasping. I got sweaty but not too hot, and basically feel like I might want to do it again tomorrow.  Weird, I know.

3. I love summer and don't ever want to go back to work.  I ran in to the mother of one of my students at the gym on Tuesday and this thought was instantly confirmed. 

4. You readers are making it very easy for me to not post.  I'm not quite sure at this point if you like/care what I have to say; or even if you exist at this point.  So I'm begging you to leave me a comment once in a while.  I don't even care what you tell me. Do you have a 3-year-old who drives you insane? Do you read blogs to avoid cleaning your house? Do you drive a black car?  Please.  Give me some sign that you are alive and well. 

Have a healthy day,


J

Beating the Heat

First of all, before I start telling you all about the exciting Fourth of July we had, (yes, I realize it's over and that no one cares anymore), I need to say something equally as important.  As I've been indulging my addiction to other people's blogs, I've noticed that a lot of people are irritated that it's Monday.  As in, not looking forward to Monday morning workouts, not excited that it's time to get "back to the grind", not anxiously anticipating how great this week is going to be.  WHY????  To that I say, GET OVER IT.  I get it- you're back to work today and you don't want to be.  So what?  You're one day closer to pay day.  It's time to get a fresh start on your goals, start looking forward to all of the things you're going to accomplish this week, and fall back in to your routine.  It's Monday! 

 NOW BE EXCITED!!

2 cute kids just chillin' on the Fourth.  Except it wasn't chilly. 
It was ridiculously hot.
Also, it was a great day to get spider webs and skulls painted on your body.

So, back to the Fourth.  I woke up early, ready to run.  Remember I made a goal to sign up for a race?  Well, I did it.  (Ok, I'm lying.  I *picked* a race to run on the 4th, but didn't actually register until I got there.)  There were actually about a billion races happening locally that day, and I settled on a 2-miler.  I was thinking about going for an official 5K, but figured that 2 miles would be much more manageable in the heat.  (Not because I've barely been running or anything that silly, OBVI).

I found a friend who was gracious enough to sign up with me.  I'm not even gonna lie- the thought of running with someone made me totally nervous, even though this chick and I have been friends for about 10 years, and nothing about her makes me nervous.  I always run solo, and was scared that I'd be holding her back.  And I'm sure I was.  But she still stuck with me.  She's so nice. 

A 10K was happening at the same time as our 2-miler, and my friend ran in to some people she knew during registration.  When they asked us which race we were doing, they responded with things like, "Well, at least you showed up" and "What are you gonna do, challenge yourself and run it backwards?"  Very funny, Jerks.  Have fun running over 6 miles in the blazing heat.

And yeah, it was crazy hot out.  I actually remember the weather man saying later that night that Wednesday was the hottest day of the summer so far.  Awesome.  What a great day for a non-runner (me) to go for a run.  Even though the race started at 8 in the morning, it was already gross out.  We lined up (and yes, we were right in front this time), and we were feeling great.  Totally ready to reach our goal of banging these miles out in less than 20 minutes.  And then I overheard the superstar runners next to me having a conversation:

Quick Guy 1: you gonna try to beat 14 minutes?
QG 2: I doubt I can go faster than that in this humidity.  Plus with those hills...
QG 1: Yeah, make sure you save some energy for that big one at the end.

WAIT Stop Hold the phone Come again.... HILLS????? Please tell me they were lying.  I've NEVER run up a hill before.  Oh God.  I was gonna die. 

Proof that running happened.  And yes,
I wore a flag bandana as a sweat band then entire time.
I'm pretty sure it made me run faster.

I looked at my friend and she looked at me.  I can't do this, I told her.  "Yes you can, just remember that the faster you run, the quicker you're done," she said.  And that turned in to my mantra. We started running, and she was already going quicker than I had planned on starting.  But I kept up with her and just kept reminding myself to keep my feet moving so that it could be over.  And we got to the first hill.  I tried to dominate it, dug my feet in, and passed people.  I got to the top and was so thankful for the neighbors who were standing at the edge of their lawn with a hose to run through. 

I was SO hot.

But I kept moving my feet, refusing to give in to the fact that my mind was telling me to slow down.  I was about half way done when I realized that the timer on my watch wasn't working!  OMG!  I'm pretty sure these are the only words I panted out the whole time my friend was trying to talk to me, and I'm pretty sure she wanted to punch me when I told her.  But she didn't, and we decided it didn't matter how quickly we were going anyway- all we had to do was finish. 

I slowed down a little, and tried not to think about the fact that there was another hill before it was over.  I think about 17 8-year-olds passed me at this point. 

I was overheating.

But I kept going and then saw the slow and steady way that the road up ahead of me started to climb.  Oh Hell NO. 

About half way up, I wasn't sure if I was going to walk, stop moving all together and just drop out, faint, puke, or die; but I was fairly certain that I wasn't going to finish while still doing something that resembled running.  And then, (thank the LORD), I saw the finish line.

I ran. Faster.  Partly out of desire to have this train-wreck be behind me, but mostly because I didn't want the spectators to think that I couldn't even make it through 2 measly miles while hundreds were about to crush 6.2. 

And when I ran across the finish line, not only did I fail to look at the freaking clock, but when I hit the paddle that a girl was shoving in my face, she said, "nope".  NOPE?????  Are you effing kidding me that I just almost killed myself to finish this blasted race and my time didn't even register??????

But my friend assured me that the clock said 18:45 as she went across, and I was literally right on her heels.  So we said that my time must have been 18:48.  So that's what we're sticking with: 18:48.  Also known as: I SMASHED MY GOAL!!!!!!! (I looked up my "official" time on line later, and it actually did register.  As 18:54, but it also said my friend was 5 seconds later than the clock told her... so we're still sticking with the faster times.  Their official-ness was *obviously* wrong.)

I'm so happy that I did this race, so grateful for my friend who pushed me, and so excited that I didn't actually die so that I could sit around and eat my face off for the rest of the day.

Happy Birthday, America. It was a pleasure celebrating with you.

Waiting for the parade to start and trying not to sweat to death.

I RAN A 5K

It happened!  I woke up on Sunday morning and was so nervous, and anxious, and excited, and totally ready to go.  I just kept imagining the sense of accomplishment I was about to experience, and it happened.  I ran 3.1 miles without stopping.  And it felt amazing. 

The race I did was an annual event to raise money for The Breast Cancer Coalition of Rochester.  I love that all of the money raised (which the news said was over 20 thousand dollars!) stays right here at home.  I went to pick my registration stuff up on Saturday. The cancer Supporters got a light pink bandana, and the Survivors got a dark pink one.  I was totally psyched to put my stuff on bright and early on Sunday morning, but my friend told me that I absolutely COULD NOT wear my race shirt to the race.  She told me I'd look like such a rookie.  (Duh, who would want that??)

So instead, I wore this:

That lovely guy I'm married to bought me a brand new running outfit for Mother's Day.  I felt so legit. He used to actually be a real runner who broke records and stuff, so his support was awesome.  I've never in my life owned real running clothes, and now I do.  And yes, I posed for pictures instead of, oh, I don't know, stretching or something silly.

Of course, the first thing I had to do as soon as I got out of the car was go to the bathroom.  Unfortunately, so did everyone else.  This is just a tiny portion of one ridiculously long line. There were about 6 lines of the same crazy length.  I decided I didn't really have to go that badly after all.



So finally it was time to line up.  I might be somewhere in that crowd.  

Or maybe I'm in this one.

Wow, look at all those rookies.  (And do you see that one lone GUY?  Yeah, he must have missed the memo that this was a women's only race.   Seriously though, that sea of pink was so energizing, motivating, and inspiring. 

I hope my feet don't fail me now...

That thing on my shoe was my time chip.  Cool, right?



And then we were off.  And it was exactly at this time that I realized I had made perhaps my most fatal ROOKIE mistake. When it was time to line up, there were little markers down the path with numbers on them.  You were supposed to line up according to how fast you were going to run. Since I was planning on finishing in just about 30 minutes, I stood with the 10-minute crowd. 

People kept telling me to just plan on going slowly at first since I'd have to weave in and out of a lot of people.  Once the crowd thinned out, they'd said, I'd be able to get in my zone and just go.  Well, the crowd was literally so thick that not only could I not weave anywhere, I also couldn't get in my zone.  There were about 4 thousand runners there, and I'm pretty sure that 3500 of them were also planning on finishing in 30 minutes.  I WAS SO ANNOYED!!!!  The clock was ticking away and I was seriously stuck for about a half a mile in a painfully slow moving crowd. So note to self: next time, stand with the 7-8 minute group. Wear your legit clothes again and act like you belong. They'll never know the difference.

So I finished (with my friend Jessica, who I found at the turn!) with an official time of 32:34. That totally should have been 28 or 29 something, but that brutality at the beginning completely messed me all up.  But the most important thing here is that I FINISHED!  And I didn't walk at all, and I didn't die at the end. 

(My mom ended up running it, too.  I wish I had remembered to get a picture of us after we finished, since it was Mother's Day and all. But I'm kindof an idiot sometimes).

And then it was time to go eat!  My brother, sister and I made lunch for our mama.  This was one of my contributions to the table:

 

oooohhh, I'm so crafty.  Too bad it tipped
upside down on the way over there.
Husband told me it was due to my
crazy driving.  I told him he wasn't holding it well enough.
We love each other.



And in case you're wondering what else we made her:











Missing from this picture is my brother's contribution
of pizza logs and Doritos.

And cupcakes.  We ate cupcakes.  How delicious do these look?!
They were from an all-natural bakery.  I could have eaten at least 5.

Oh, one last thing.  I'm pretty sure I received better gifts than any other mother on this planet.  I mean, seriously. 

A beaded necklace, a bird with pink sequins (it's a pin!) AND hand painted flower pots??!?  Wow, I must be really loved.  I hope your day was as wonderful as mine was.

Have a healthy day,

J

Have I Mentioned...

...that I'm running my first 5K soon?  In 2 weeks from yesterday to be exact.  And I'm nervous!  3.1 miles in a row?!?! I've NEVER in a million years thought that I would be excited to run for multiple miles, but I am.  I have been working hard, and I'm excited!  (And you can sponsor me if you feel so inclined.  I would really love it, and so would the amazing cause that's sponsoring the race. Click here to kick me some dough.)


I totally understand that to a lot of people, running 3 miles is practically nothing.  But to me, it's going to be a huge accomplishment.  I've had to teach myself how to run, and it hasn't been pretty. Nor has it been fun.  But I'm finally feeling stronger, and more confident that I can make it.  As long as I don't have too many mornings like today.  I got my arse out of bed at 6:15 and the shoes were hitting the pavement by 6:22. Usually, the cold air greets me with a gentle punch in the face and I get moving.  Today, however, I never felt like I really got in to it.  Physically, my feet were moving, but it never felt comfortable.  According to mapmyrun.com, I ran about 1.6 miles.  My legs felt heavy and I wanted to stop the entire time I was going.  Boo.  It was the longest 16 minutes of my life.  (Ok, I exaggerate.  Moments in my life have felt longer.  Like labor.  Being in labor was worse than this morning's run.)  It's alright though.  I made up for it with an AWESOME class tonight at the gym!  There was such great energy in the room, and we had a great time.  I even recruited a couple of new members!  Note to self:  buffalo chicken bites and french fries for dinner on Sunday, no matter how stressed out you are, make for a very bad Monday morning workout. 

Last year, I organized a team at work.  We all wore matching shirts, complete with glitter. Some walked it, some ran it, and all had fun.  It was so amazing to pull together such a diverse group of people who were just out to do something healthy.  A couple were pregnant, a few were workout fanatics, and one was even a breast cancer survivor.  I was so sad that I couldn't run it with them :(


Hi team!  You guys were so great.  

Even my mom and sister ran it.  Well, my sister ran the whole thing.  My mom started out on the walker's route, but decided half way through that they were moving too slowly.  So she cut over to the runner's course. Totally legal in an official race. 



Can we go out to eat after the race?  I'm gonna be starving...

So while everyone was running their little hearts out, I did what I do best- took pictures of myself. I had some pretty cute props with me, don't ya think? 



Happy Mother's Day to me!

But this year will be an entirely different story.  I have since parted ways with my team, so I will not be sporting a College Prep glittery tee.  Don't worry, though.  My girlfriend and I WILL be donning pink together.  She is thinking it will be in the form of socks and bandanas; I'm rooting for sequins and headbands.  I'll let you know how it turns out. 

Wish me luck.  I need it. 

Have a healthy day,

J

Trying something new

I know you've all been anxiously awaiting my follow-up to Thursday's cliff hanger.  Just WHAT did she do the other day when she was so stressed out she thought she was about to jump out the window?

Welllllll..... in case you haven't figured it out yet, after an entire night of not sleeping, I dragged myself out of bed before the sun came up and I... drum roll please... RAN. Yes, that's right.  I, who never ever runs, went running.  I've done this little running kick before as I was training for a 5K last year (which I never even got to friggin' run- I've mentioned that before, right?) Anyway, I haven't actually gone running in about a year.  And the other day, I did.  I ran 2 miles in exactly 19 minutes. Which, by the way, is the fastest I've ever done that.  What's that term that runners use? PR? :)

I recently read somewhere that a great way to stay motivated during a run is to chant something positive to yourself as your feet hit the pavement.  (Stay.Strong. Go. Long. Stay. Strong. Go. Long...) I don't know whether it was that, or the perfect weather, or the ridiculous stress I'm feeling; but my feet never stopped.  I might actually do it again tomorrow! 

6 AM (ok, it was closer to 6:30) is brutally early, but I had company out there. I passed dog walkers, shopping cart pushers, and teenagers moving slowly to bus stops. And every time I approached someone, I felt like shouting, "Look at me! I'm running!!" Don't worry- I didn't. I just smiled and kept to myself. But I did return the quick wave from the fellow runner. Ha, I was a fellow runner!

 I'm not a runner. I'm a very slow jogger at best. And I certainly don't do it consistently.   But I ran (well, jogged).  I actually kindof liked it.  So there it is.  This is so WEIRD.

And on that note...

Have a healthy day,

J