Late to the Party

I am not much of a crowd follower. 

That is really my only excuse for not knowing what all the fuss was about a few years ago.

However, this morning while running on the treadmill I finally figured out why a world full of women fell in love with two young boys.

Twilight

I am finally watching it and now

I get it.

I have all three movies.

Looks like some long miles for me this weekend

but wouldn't you know it, the weather is going to be perfect for running outside with the jogger. 

I guess I'll run faster knowing when I get back I'll get to watch!

Three Things Thursday ~ Sticky Edition

I am offically on the wait list of the Bull Run 50 miler.  Just this past weekend I sorta told my husband I was wanting to do a 50 miler "...maybe in April."  That's how I put it.  I told him that on the heels of reminding him that I have 2 50ks in March.  I guess you could say I am in a sticky situation with Hubbs.

  LBM is getting so independent lately.  He wants to do everything by himself.  And by everything I mean regardless of the mess it makes he just attempts to do it himself. 

Pour his own drink?  Yep.  Half a gallon of milk on the floor but some in the glass.

Clear his place after dinner?  Yep.  Plate, silverware and scraps all somewhere between the table and the trash can.

Put the bubbles in the tub at bathtime?  Yep.  Well, that would be a not exactly.  When LBM thought he was being helpful in putting the bubbles in, he actually put in an entire bottle of hair gel.

Mega Hold hair gel!

Look what the great folks at Build A Sign sent me!

They are amazing. 

It was so fun and easy to create my stickers.  I think I may use this idea for party favors for S'ghetti girls next birthday bash.  She loved helping me change the design a hundred times.  But she wanted pink of course.

Want one?  Send me your address.  Just that easy

Wondering on Wednesday

Day 274 ~ 4 a.m. - 8 p.m. miles

I am getting really good at sending a photo via my dumb smart phone and then sorta forgetting to finish my blog.  They way my phone sends things is realllllly boring so I like to liven it up a little bit.  However in doing things this way, I often have comments before I even finished writting my post.

Funny

So that got me thinking.

yeah, running screaming.  It's scary! I was thinking.

How often do you find yourself commenting the same thing(s) on blogs?

Do you comment simply to show you were there?

Or only when you have something to honestly add?

Just wondering.

Two for Tuesday

It's Day 274.  That means 91 days to go.  Just in case you were wondering.

That means between me and 365 days I have a mere two trails 50ks, a potential 50 miler and a 10 mile trail run that I need to win the Masters Division at to defend my title.

Gee, 365 days.  I'm almost there.

Since I'm talking crazy today anyway, I thought I'd share this photo.

It is a rare shoot of the fabled FrenchFryosarus.

Just like Big Foot and the Lock Ness Monster photos are rarely in focus.

Since I believe I have the only photo in exsistance I'm pretty sure I'll be offered a lot of money for it.  I am hoping for that anyway.  I'm going to need some help paying for all those races and hotel rooms and food and gas. 

Realign

This weekend, Saturday to be precise, I almost thought that this streak was over.

I don't know who snatched my body but she was not a runner!

I had the entire day to get out and put in 20ish miles on the trails.  The whole day.

What did I do to keep from getting out the door?  Well, I...

1.  slept in

2.  didn't fuel my body

3.  I gathered tax documents

4.  I started to clean the bathroom...

...S'ghetti girl's room...

...the cat box....

...the kitchen...

...the dishes.

5.  watched parts of 6 movies

6.  I opened the front door 25 times to check the weather.

7.  started to take down the Christmas tree (yes you read that right!)

8.  took a long hot shower.

The excuses...

1.  I must have needed the sleep since LBM still gets up most nights.

2.  I don't like to eat before I run anyway

3.  I promised myself I would get the papers together this weekend

4.  It was dirty...it was dirty...it was dirty...it was dirty...they were dirty.

5.  The tv was on and I got sucked in.

6.  It was freezing rain.

7.  Okay is there any excuse for having a Christmas tree still up on February 5th?

8.  I thought it would help me get motivated.

I know the suspense is killing you but of course I did run.

2 miles

on the treadmill very late Saturday night.

All this reminds me that sometimes I just need to realign my thinking.  I was not happy that I allowed the freezing rain to keep me from doing what I have scheduled.  I know that as a working mom I have to take advantage of the opportunity to run when I have.  I also know that I will not pick the weather on race day.  So I have to be willing to run in less than perfect conditions however I am willing to admit that on any given day you just don't know what kind of runner you'll be.

So I took an unexpected step way back week.
So I disappointed myself with an unproductive day.
Sunday I got right back on track with 10 miles and this morning I got up early and got in 4 steady miles.
I realigned my attitude and put myself back on track.

No fair weather fans here!
This morning I am back on track and Steeler Proud.

Three things Thursday - Super Hero Edition

 Speaking of secret identities, I think I have one now too. 

I mean I must because I don't know anyone else who would be registered for 2 long races and have a fairly decent lottery entry into a mega long race all within the next 3 months and have yet to concretely discuss those plans with their husband. 

I think I should be known as Super Runner Girl.

But I'll let you know if that should be Stupid Runner Girl after I drop the news of multiple hotel reservations on my husband.

I know many of you may think you know Iron Man's secret identity but you don't.  

You probably think it's Tony Stark, right?

Naahhh.

It wouldn't be secret if that were true.

But since we're such close and such good friends I'll tell you the truth.

Iron Man's real identity is...

Little Bug Man!

This morning I had to get my miles ran since I have work all day and then have a meeting after work.  I was determined to somehow make it happen but when I woke up at 5:15 running just wasn't what my body wanted to do and my mind couldn't get my legs moving.  Fast forward to 6:30 and we are knee deep in the morning bus routine.  After S'ghetti girl got on the bus LBM and I went to the workout room and I hit the treadmill.  LBM played with the cat and climbed all over the storage boxes. 

He must have gotten tired somewhere around 3 miles because that's when is set up his little folding chair in front of the treadmill and after a few minutes....

he turned it off.

What super power is it when you can only fly backwards?

I know you were wishing for a photo of that one.

How'd Your January Go?

Miles Ran: 296.3 (Year total: 296.3)

Yeah,I know.  Why not just run the 3.7 miles and make it 300

Rest Days Taken: 0

The Streak:  January 31st was Day # 267 of the streak 2147.5 miles

361 Runs

Highest Mileage Week: 1/03 - 1/09 (DM Weeks) 80 miles

Races: None, so sad.

Current Shame-Inducing Guilty Pleasure: Cinnamon Coffee Cake

Which Outfit did I Wear the Most:  Find Your Happy Pace (One More Mile Shirt)

What We Are Watching: Chicken Little

Funniest Kid Quote: Since the majority of my runs are on the treadmill lately, LBM has gotten used to me running each evening.  My new favorite is when he joins me downstairs and asks, "Run Mommy?"  I tell him. "Yes Mommy running now."  When he hears the treadmill stop he comes back and asks, "Done?  Mommy happy?"  No response needed.

Current Triumph: Not going crazy

Current Goal:

Personal: Figuring it all out

Running/Fitness: Prepare for my March Ultras

Current Blessing:  Amazing time with my kids

Current Excitement:  The Bull Run 50 miler Lottery

Current Concern: Figuring it all out

How did your December days add up?

Brisk

It was 3 degrees this morning.

It was brisk and invigorating.

I find an odd kind of beauty in a morning like this one.

It seem the colder the temperature gets the quieter it becomes.

I am missing that quietness in all my treadmill running lately.

Although I am enjoying the benefits of running in one place; being home with the kids, watching movies and not having to pee in cornfields, I am also eager to get back to those quiet reflective runs.

In the meantime, we enjoyed a weekend of running in one place and exhausting afternoons of playing in the snow.  We built snowmen, had snowball fights,  

 played on the swings and

sledded down hills.

Now this is a kind of cross training I can really get into no matter the weather!

33 days until the Seneca Greenway Trail 50k

47 days until the HAT Run Trail 50k 

Commitment

com·mit·ment 

–noun

1. the act of committing.
2. the state of being committed.
3. the act of committing, pledging, or engaging oneself.
4. a pledge or promise; obligation: 
5. engagement; involvement: 
6. perpetration or commission, as of a crime.
7. consignment, as to prison.
8. confinement to a mental institution or hospital:
9. an order, as by a court or judge, confining a person to a mental institution or hospital.
10. Law . a written order of a court directing that someone be confined in prison; mittimus.
11. Parliamentary Procedure . the act of referring or entrusting to a committee for consideration.
12. Stock Exchange .
a. an agreement to buy or sell securities.
b. a sale or purchase of securities.

I reflect on this word today.  The 264th day of my running streak.  

With tonight's run, I will have ran 264 miles for the month

As Dictionary.com defines commitment I wonder how often we forget a few points of it's definition.

No.  I am not talking about the confinement to a mental institution or a court order.  We all may be able to identify with those definitions from time to time. 

I am talking about engaging oneself and involvement.

How often do we simply go through the routine or schedule of our days and not truly engage with our families and friends?  How often are you guilty of simply putting in the miles and not enjoying the act of running?  Isn't that why we are doing this?  Because we enjoy it?

It goes for all areas in our lives, how often do we sit done for a meal and not even taste what we are eating, not really listen to our kids telling us the hundreds of things they ramble on about...

I am sure we would all say that we are committed to our families, our friends, our jobs, our running but are we remembering that part of the commitment is to engage oneself?

As we head into another weekend of long runs and races, let's all remember to fully honor those commitments, to engage ourselves completely.  Perhaps in doing so we will have our journey slightly sweeter, more amazing, anything but ordinary every single day. 

It's the little things

Today is day 261.

Through everything I am still running.

It really is the little things that help us through the difficult times in life.

I spent the weekend finishing this blanket for S'ghetti girl.  She had been waiting a very long time.  It reminded me that it doesn't take much to make a child happy.  They want to be happy. 

Some grownups are the same way.  They want to be happy.

It doesn't take much to put a smile on their face.

I am one of those people.

It doesn't take much to make me happy.

So despite the rough road, I have been running.  Then yesterday morning I decided to take a risk. 

A leap of faith that might just make me happy.

I entered a lottery

The Bull Run Run 50 Miler

Three Things Thursday and a Giveaway Sneak Peek

Day # 249 ~ 2 a.m. wake up miles

I have been doing a lot of treadmill running. 

A LOT.

While I never take for granted the fact that I have a treadmill to use at my home everyday, for me running isn't really the same on the treadmill.  First off, I run way too fast.  You'd think that would be easy enough to correct simply keep my fingers off the speed button.  But I get comfortable at a pace and just keep pushing it.  I also know my form suffers when I run on the treadmill.  I don't engage my core the way running of an every changing surface forces me to do.  And lastly running on the treadmill means I am not pushing the jogging stroller.  That's about a hour of upper body and core work that is not happening. 

I think I can feel my miles dropping so I can squeeze in P90X. 

Either that or I need to buy a few more heating pads for the jogging stroller.

This morning LBM was starring as Buzz Lightyear in a kids comedy Ring-around-the-rosey.  It's funny how when you go to drop your child off they fuss about you leaving until something better comes along. 

This morning all it took was ring-around-the-rosey.

Gee, I feel loved.

Speaking of LBM, last night is must have been trying out his contortionist act because one minute he was sitting at the table eating dinner with his sister and the next he was standing twisted between the rungs on his hand-me-down wooden highchair screaming his head off.  I'm sure that it was not built to the certain safety standards.  I should probably look into getting some modern dining room furniture.

Speaking of buying something new, one of you faithful readers will soon have the opportunity to buy something new.  That's right a giveaway!  Maybe you'll chose some modern dining room furniture or something from one of over 200 online stores with a gift card from CSN Stores. 

Take a look at all the great things today so you'll be ready to enter soon!

Dusting off a few Dreams

I am often finding inspiration and encouragement in unexpected places throughout my days.

Yesterday I received an email from a running friend.  He and his wife are people I admire a lot.  Don't take that last sentence lightly because I do not admire many people.

I find inspiration in others.  I see examples of how to do certain things in others.  I received motivation from people around me but rarely do I admire someone else.

I typically feel that I am capable of similar accomplishments if I were given the same opportunities.

Let's be clear, I do not feel that I would win the Nobel Peace Prize if given the opportunity.  I am talking about people of a certain character who share the same interests that I do.

This friend sent me an email unknowingly at just the right time.

It was filled with positivity and encouragement.

I'll share the final sentence with you.

"So how about your dreams? Dust a few of them off and bring them out in 2011!! This is the year!!!"

As regular readers you will know that I am hopeful to make the leap from 50ks to a 50 miler this year.  I have registered for two trail 50ks in March.  My plan had been to use those two relatively close races as a gauge of my ability to make that leap perhaps in the fall.

This email has created a fire in me that I had lost over the past few months of entrapment.

I have allow other people and their opinions and judgments to direct how I have handled my winter running.

Sometimes it's hard not to do that.

Allow others to influence my behavior.

But after this email I am reminded that not all influences are negative ones.

I have already thanked my friend for the much needed "you got this girl" email.

So I do not type this to thank him again, I don't think he reads anyway.

I do type this so that you, faithful readers will be reminded that you never know what kind of impact you might have on someone by doing just the smallest of kind gestures.

So send that email, make that call, write that thank you, go for that visit, or invite someone to run because you never know just what an impact you might have.

Not What I Had Planned

Did you go outside this moring?  I did.  It was wonderful.

It was the calm before the storm, in more way than one.

But I didn't know that at first.

I stuck my head out the front door while S'ghetti girl was getting ready for the bus.

Heaven.

Cool okay it was cold but cool sounds better Crisp Calm Morning.

I got everything ready to get LBM up and stroller ready right after the bus.

We were headed out to squeeze in 4 miles this morning leaving on 7 for my wanted 11 miles today.

Hello? It's 1.11.11 We all have to do something special, right?

Anyway since I couldn't get all my miles in one run I needed to split them up.

My body also needs a break from the double digit runs lately.

Everything seemed to be falling into place.

The bus was on it's way, S'ghetti girl and I gathered her gear and headed down the driveway.

That is when I saw it.

not my actual yard

That's not what I had planned.

But.

Instead of getting upset and ruining my day, I got S'ghetti girl on the bus and then simply cleaned up the mess.

Reminding myself that I should always set trash out in the cans to avoid this.

Lesson learned.

And then since LBM was still sleeping I hopped on the treadmill for 2.5 miles.

Any run is a good run.

Things to be proud of

This is a face filled with pride.

LBM was so proud of what he had accomplished unattended in the bathroom.

"Happy Mommy?" is what he asked when I saw him from the door way.

We all have things that we love to do.

Things that we feel we are good at and take pride in doing.

For each of us these things are different. 

I have several things that I love to do that make me feel proud of accomplishing them.

I take pride is doing things on my own, like fixing our pellet stove or rehanging the front door.

I enjoy crafting, making cards and headbands.

 At our house I often have show and tell time with Hubbs when he comes home for the weekend.  My wonderful hubbs gets drug lead around the house as I show off all my latest creations and home repairs.

Everyone has something that they do that makes them feel happy and that they just can't wait to share with everyone. 

No one thing is better or more important.

We each just have "our" thing.

Most of us have running as a common passion but rarely are we people of a singular focus.

I remind you all today that there are many things in your life that bring you joy.  There are simple things that fill you with pride. 

Maybe emptying a can of shaving cream all over your head and face won't fill you with pride and make you happy but there are many many things in your day that will or at least can.

LBM so proud of his shaving

What besides running fills you?

-- Sent from my Palm Pre

My Name Must Have Gotten Around

I mostly keep to myself. 

I mean with my current life style I don't get the opportunity to talk with people very much.  My days usually go something like this:

Get S'ghetti girl up and off to school

Squeeze in a morning run

Get LBM and I ready to head off to pre-pre-school and work

Work

Pick up kids

Run errands only if completely unavoidable

Home

Get kids settled read occupied with something

Jump on the treadmill for about an hour+

Homework, supper, household chores, baths, playtime/reading

Kids in bed

Collapse

See little chance to encounter anyone to talk to besides my kiddos...

 ...but somehow my name has still gotten around.

I don't know how it happened but Day 365 somehow knows my name

and WON'T stop calling me!

I think this is the first step on the road to insanity.
but a runner is rarely sane.

The Same 365 Days

Here we are again at the close of one year and the beginning of the next.  It's a familiar place.  A place where we can either relish the successes of our past year or eagerly proclaim that the new year will be our fresh start closing out a year of challeneges.

This is where my year began. 

You can click the link HERE and make your own accessment of whether or not I achieved what I wanted to in 2010.

I won't bore you with a recap of my year.  We each had the same 365 days to change and grow into the people we look at in the mirror today.  So if you have been following you already know the moments that I have shared with you, the ebb and flow of my little journey.  And now to look back might change the way I feel about the path I have already traveled.

Beacuse sometimes looking forward our choice seems like the right one but with the benefit of time the way we view our decisions changes and sometimes seems like a mistake.  But maybe it's more about the journey regardless of which turns we took to get there.

Again this year I find inspiration in odd places through my days.  Currently my running life has been held hostage but circumstance thus putting me on the treadmill watching movies while I run.

I just finished the movie Inception. 

I find a quote from the movie meaningful right now.

"You're waiting for a train. A train that will take you far away. You can't be sure where it will take you. But it doesn't matter - because we'll be together."

The train for me is life right now.

I don't know where it is taking me but I am excited about the journey.

I hope that my trip will take me through amazing places and experinces.

I hope that my journey and all the challenges that I will face in traveling it will help not only be but will influence those around me.

The train could be life or a situation you are facing but whatever it is for you I hope you boldly board that train with your ticket in hand even if you are not quite such where it will take you because on this journey we will be together.

For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.

2 Timothy 1:7

Three Things Thursday

I don't know what you do to keep your workouts interesting but one treadmill plus bubble wrap kept my kids happy and going all evening.

We had our first rainbow at the VA house.  That rainbow had great timing too.  We saw it the day Army Son flew out.

Promises.

Today is pizza burger day and that meant I had lunch in the elementary school.

Of course we got in trouble for talking to loudly...

okay the principal scolded the entire fourth grade not just us.

But it felt like being back in school again...I wish I could have stayed for recess!

-- Sent from my Palm Pre

Oh! What a Night!

There are days when I really wonder how on earth I survive.

okay, that's an overstatement I know many have it much more difficult than I but...

Take last night for example, after dragging myself through work working all day, the kids and I went to the grocery store (I really dislike running errands after work!) and then headed home. 

That is to say we got home later than usual.

I got the kids settled in and even though I have a cold I hopped on the treadmill with movies from RedBox.  After the first mile or so I could breath so much better and the kids were playing contently and I was completely engrossed in the movie Inception.  I might have ran a bit longer than I should have.

Once I realized I'd better stop I did want any runner first parent would do I rounded out my miles stop as soon as I could.

A quick dash into the shower and thanks to a easy to make supper we were quickly eating while doing homework.  Well, S'ghetti girl had actually gotten most of her homework done solo and I simply had to check it while wrangling/feeding/swatting/cleaning LBM.

Then it was off the baths and dealing with S'ghetti girl's rat's nest long hair.  After removing the tangles from hair and dirt from bodies I thought I might actually get our evening back on schedule.

But no.

That's not how it is when you are doing the married-single-parenting-must-run-a-zillion-miles-a-week thing.

The house was filled with white smoke.

Our pellet stove.

God Bless trying to do the earth friendlier thing.

After way too much time and another round of smoke filled house I gave up and decided that I would at least get to see my daughter before she went to bed. 

And that is about all we got to do, see each other.

Do I regret running and taking that time for myself?

Not for a minute.

I know there will be days when I don't get it all placed neatly within the lines.

I know there will be days when I feel like I can do everything and love it.

But mostly there will be days filled with experinces.

While the kids didn't enjoy the smoke filled house, they got to see mommy handling it, they got to help and honestly it was nice to see how well we worked together to try and get it all done.

Day # 240 ~ Tuesday p.m. run before the smoke

This morning we started a new day.

I wonder what experinces it will bring.

What kind of day are you having?

Brrr, it's cold in here...

...that should be OUT here.

It was freezing cold out this morning.

No it was beyond freezing.  In fact even the ice along the road thought it was cold.

So what did I do?

You know after taking yesterday off work because I and nearly the entire family is enjoying head colds.

Well I went for a run outside of course.

And I couldn't wear any of my old winter gear I had to wear my new stuff from Christmas that isn't quite warm enough to cut this morning's idea of cold.

But this morning, I matched!

Day # 239 ~ a.m. run 3.5 freezing miles

What am I the only one who knows you can sweat out a cold? 

And shivering while you are sweating has to speed up the process, right? 

How'd December Go?

Miles Ran: 266.6 (Year total: 2,670.1)

Rest Days Taken: 0 (December 31st was Day # 236 of the streak 1833.1 miles)

Highest Mileage Week: 12/20 - 12/26 (DM Weeks) 69 miles

Races: None, so sad.

Current Shame-Inducing Guilty Pleasure: Reese's Mini Peanut Butter Cups

Which Outfit did I Wear the Most:

What We Are Watching: Sorcerer's Apprentice

Funniest Kid Quote:  It's not a quote it's an endless conversation with S'ghetti girl.  She constantly tells us the story line of your latest Professor Layton DSi game...in detail.  If you have kids, you know what I mean.

Current Triumph: Losing 4 pounds and adding cross training to my nearly daily routine

Thanks Amanda for the HBBC

Current Goal: Personal: To be more open to change

Running/Fitness: Prepare for my March Ultras

Current Blessing: Having Army Son home for 2 weeks

Current Excitement: Having Army Son home for 2 weeks!

Current Concern: Having to let Army Son go back

How did your December days add up?