I had an interesting conversation this weekend. I was dressed up and wearing make-up at a social event. Another mom commented on that fact, since she's never seen me in make-up before. My response was that she only sees me at school drop-off and pick-up and why would I be wearing make-up then? Her response? "To feel good about yourself." My rather flip response: "Running does that for me." When I said it, I was being a little bit facetious, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized it was true. Don't get me wrong. I like to look nice as much as the next girl and I do make an effort if there's a reason. But I'm long past the days of not leaving the house without a shower or make-up. And I'm long past … [Read more...]
Keeping up with the Joneses
I live in a rather, umm, competitive area. I'm surrounded by driven personalities. Our once quaint little neighborhood filled with Sears bungalows and small brick colonials is changing over to HUGE houses. Additions are so big you can barely find the old house. Infill houses have five or more bedrooms and often as many baths. I'll admit that sometimes I get a little house envy. (Or honestly mostly master bath envy because we don't have one of those.) And then I step back and remind myself that we've made choices based on OUR values and OUR priorities. I'm not saying that our choices are better than anyone else's, just that they are what are important to us. And all choices have consequences, often both negative and positive. … [Read more...]
Confidence Builder
So, sometimes I think I've bitten off more than I can chew. Five half marathons in 5 days? What the hell was I thinking? I haven't run long since April. I haven't run fast since 2010. What makes me think I can do this? Today I ran 10 miles. They weren't awful. In fact, they had moments of really good. On the whole, they were ok. But you know what makes them awesome? The fact that yesterday I ran 7 miles. And the day before I ran 5.3. And the day before that I ran 5.1. The back to back mileage is building slowly and my body is playing along. That is what made the 10 today awesome. Slow and steady. That's how I'm going to get there and that's how I'll be running the races. HBBC Total HBBC points = 127.5 HBBC Week 3 … [Read more...]
Kinda Sorta Wordless Wednesday
For those days when you have a really hard time getting up in the morning... Maybe I should let Shoo use a real camera (his picture of Luray caverns with my iphone)... If you are my friend on Facebook, you know that this guy (and his food) have kind of taken over my life... Not running yesterday seems to have done the trick. By late last night, I was jonesing for a run (may have had something to do with the miserable failure that was dinner + spending my evening hemming a pair of pants, a chore I hate). My legs are tired and sore in a different way than from running, but mentally I'm in a totally different place. HBBC so far this week - 16..2 Wednesday = 7ish planned - 5 mile run, veggies, FB Tuesday = 5 (1 hour … [Read more...]
Three Things Thursday
1. I'm having a bit of a crisis of confidence. I've run four days in a row and my legs are feeling pretty trashed. I was pleasantly surprised on my Wednesday run that my speed wasn't bad. I did find that my heart rate went up when I had to race a few lights and didn't want to come back down. I'm planning to run this afternoon and that will be the first time in ages I've run five days in a row. And I'm seriously feeling it. I've trained for marathons, so I KNOW my body will get used to this and that my endurance will improve, but somehow it's hard to BELIEVE that it's actually going to happen. 2. Yesterday I had a bit of a "Goldilocks" moment. We picked up Jones' new bike from Performance. It's a Schwinn that's a bit higher end … [Read more...]
Refocusing
I love to run. Running has become a huge part of who I am. It's my anti-depressant, my stress reliever, my muse. I need to return to my old running roots. The ones where I ran because I wanted to or needed to. Where I ran the distance or the speed that felt good that day. The place I was before I started training and tracking miles and caring about my speed. That run never hurt me. That run was only a positive force in my life. I run to be mentally healthy, to be physically strong, and ok, sometimes so I can continue to drink beer and still fit in my jeans. I'll be keeping that run around. But, until my body stops rebelling, distance running and specific training plans will be taking a backseat. I'll be mixing in more … [Read more...]
TTT: Confidence, consistency, and connections
1. Confidence - One of the best things I got out of the recent Blue Ridge Half Marathon is confidence. I've been questioning my ability to run far. I've been convinced I can never run fast again. I honestly wasn't really sure I could even finish the race (and this was before I saw that big ass hill!) While it was far from a speedy half marathon, it was a really good time, considering where I am in my training and what the course was like. McMillan says I could run a 2:06 half based on my recent 5k time (my 4 miler and 8k fall in line with this as well). And, based on my performance, I think McMillan is right. Without a mountain in the middle and with a few extra long runs to strengthen my feet, I do believe I could run a much faster … [Read more...]
Learning to say yes
I've spent much of my time as a parent learning when to say no. I am horrible about thinking I can accomplish everything and tend to say yes to whatever work/volunteer/kid thing that is thrown my way. Need someone to help you with a book drive? Sure. Need someone to be the Secretary of the PTA? Sign me up. Need a parent to help out with something for Cub Scouts? I'm your girl. Or at least that's how it used to be. But, over the last year, I've learned to set limits. I've learned to evaluate what I have going on and what is being asked of me and decide what I'm capable of. I've also gotten better about assigning values to things. If it's something dear to my heart or important to my kids, I'll figure out a way, but if it's not, I'm going to … [Read more...]
Long run done right
I've been fearing long runs ever since I began training for the half marathon this spring. I dread how exhausted I feel at the end. I don't enjoy working that hard for that long. All the miles after 6 just became "not fun". And I finally figured out my problem. I was running too fast. (Yes, we all do this, but my body has been sending me lots of signals lately to tell me to knock it off. Guess I finally decided to listen.) The purpose of the long run is NOT to see how fast you can run those miles, but rather to spend time on your feet. They are meant to increase your VO2 max and to teach your body to burn fat for energy (and I certainly have plenty of stores for that.) So, I plugged my most recent 5k (where I truly … [Read more...]
TTT: Sore core, snacking, and confidence (+ bonus beer)
1. Today I can feel every breath I take and I can't lift my arms above my shoulders. Pretty sure that means I got a good workout yesterday. I'm really looking forward to class next week. There's also one of those social deals going on right now for a Core Barre class. I'm debating buying it. The place is hella expensive and not terribly convenient, so I'd likely only use my coupon and then never go back. Would you buy one of those deals just to get two workouts? I'm thinking I should, just to get the core work in. 2. I work from home. In fact, I work from my dining room table. As you might guess the dining room is right next to the kitchen. I spend significant chunks of my day fighting off the siren call of the refrigerator. … [Read more...]
The last five pounds
I've never really talked about weight loss. I don't have any tips on how to make lifestyle changes or increase your calorie burn. In fact, except for pregnancy, I haven't had huge weight swings. Instead, I've spent much of my life fighting the "last 5-10 pounds". When Shoo was a month old, I looked like this: (There aren't a lot of pictures of me from the first few months and I'm not brave enough to share the one that really shows how big I was.) 7 months later, I looked like this: I have to admit I like the way I looked in picture 2 much better. In fact, if I could look like that again, I'd be over the moon. I didn't work hard to lose the weight. I lost it all by breastfeeding a child with allergies. (Yes, giving up … [Read more...]
