First Day - August 2012

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Random Running Rambling

Sometimes when I'm out on a run, I feel like I should pull my phone out and take snapshots of the random stuff I see along my routes.  Sadly, I cannot share pictures because I did not take any pictures for a few reasons: 

1.) I'm really not coordinated enough to run and take a picture at the same time

2.) The one time I tried, I learned that launching my camera app messed with the app that records my pace and distance

3.) It would not be tasteful to capture some of the things I see in a picture

So, we will simply rely on my vivid memory to relay some of the things I've seen during the past thirteen weeks of my half marathon training.  Some things make me look the other way, some things make me chuckle, some things cause me to make up hilarious stories in my mind to pass the time.

• During one run, I followed a Hansel-and-Gretel path of Oreo cookies.  How cruel is it to find a trail of cookies as I'm huffing and puffing and trying to "think" healthy?  All I could think was that some poor school kid's backpack was open on his way to school and part of his lunch snack dropped out, one cookie at a time.
• On another run, on a different road, I saw a discarded peanut butter and jelly sandwich.  Or so it appeared to be a PBJ.  Some kid must not have gotten sick and tired of the same sandwich packed in his lunch box each day.
• On any given run, there is always a plethora of roadkill.  I always avert my look - running forward but looking sideways until I'm passed the mess on the side of the road.  While on my vacation and running, it was especially sad to see a grouping of baby turtles that did not make it very far across the street.  Same with lots and lots of little frogs.
• I always see lots of live animals too - from dogs in fenced in yards to bunnies and groundhogs and beautiful yellow finches and even cute little fawns once.
• I also see lots and lots of empty beer and pop cans, which is rather puzzling since cans are returnable and worth ten cents in my state.  Shouldn't some person on a bike with a garbage bag be on the lookout for these?
• When I was running down a long country road in the middle of no where, there was a Jay-Z CD on the shoulder of the road.  It seemed so out of place!
• One of my favorite running encounters was an empty bottle of vodka along my running path.  A few feet away from that bottle was a box of condoms.  Hehe.  It made me chuckle and wonder if they were both discarded at the same time.

So, what random things have you seen discarded on your running path lately?

First Day - July 2012

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P.S.  Yes, I post-dated this blog entry.  I was on vacation, after all. :)

Earrings

She told me several months back that she wanted her ears pierced.  I told her what to expect.  She decided to wait a little while. I know her enough to not push her to do something she is not ready to do.  And then this last Friday night, she told me she wanted her ears pierced again.  I told her to think about it overnight.  She couldn't sleep all night and kept waking up to say she wanted her ears pierced in the morning. 

When this first came up a few months ago, I had done lots of research.  I checked out all the places that I could take her to get it done.  My first choice - our pediatrician's office - didn't do it.  Regardless of where I took her, I knew I wanted both ears done at the same time.  And what do they say about the best laid plans?

So on Saturday morning she woke up and said she was ready.  She couldn't think of anything else.  And she wanted to do it before we spent the day swimming at my sister's pool.  So off to a local, highly recommended chain store to get her ears pierced. There was only one lady working, and another one didn't come in for a few hours.  My spirited girl just couldn't wait. I explained to her what this meant.  I explained that it meant she would feel one big pinch, and then another one shortly after that instead of two pinches at the same exact time.  She said it was okay and she didn't want to wait until later in the day.  And again, I know when she makes up her mind, there is no changing it.  So I held one of her hands and my sister held her other hand, and her little sister watched and kept saying "ears, ears". 

They had so many more earring choices for ear piercings than I remember. My only restriction in her choice was that she picked her starter earrings from the grouping that had 14k gold posts versus other metals. I was hoping she would go with the traditional studs with her birthstone (like I had done many years ago), but she chose some very cute pink flowers.  They were perfect for her, and she picked them on her own.

I was so proud of her!  She did awesome. As she tells it, she only had one tear fall from her eye.  I could see the pain in her face, but she remained strong.  She was so very excited, and shows everyone that she meets and says "I just go my ears pierced!"

I was seven when I first got my ears pierced.  I would have liked her to wait a little longer, but realized a few years wouldn't really make that big of a difference.  She was ready.  She's been helping with the cleaning and does the turning several times a day. She's so "grown up" and it makes me feel that happy-sad feeling that I've felt several times over the last five years.  I love being her mom, but I am reminded all too often how fast this is happening.

First Day - June 2012

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Another Post on Running - With Lists

This past weekend, I finished up Week 5 of my training schedule.  I'm working on a 15 week schedule for running another half marathon in July.  It will be my fourth "official" half marathon. 

Whenever The Little One sees my Nike running shirts, she touches the Swoosh and says "Airplane!"  Not sure why she thinks it's an airplane, but it's cute.

With each training run, I keep asking myself why I signed up for this. I can't wait for the training to become less of a chore.  And I wonder if it will ever move into the "enjoyable" category this time around. 

I've realized that over the years with running and not running and running again and not running again, I truly do have a love/hate relationship with it.  Add two kids, an extra thirty pounds, being several years older, and a major life event to the mix, and I'm a sketchy runner at best.

A little history for my own records.

1. January 2006 - PF Chang's Rock 'n Roll Half Marathon, Phoenix, AZ (Chip Time 2:06:17, Bib 45542)
2. April 2006 - Rock 'n Roll Marathon, Nashville, TN (Chip Time 4:54:41, Bib 5278)
3. April 2009 - Big D Half Marathon, Dallas, TX (Chip Time 1:55:25, Bib 3313)
4. October 2011 - Free Press Half Marathon, Detroit, MI (Chip Time 3:03:57, Bib 11079 - Silly me did NO training)
5. July 2012 - Half Marathon, Chicago, IL (Time TBD)
6. October 2012 - Free Press Half Marathon, Detroit, MI (Time TBD)

Some of my "dislike" things this time around with running....

1. I am thirty pounds heaver than I was during any of my other training stints.
2. My hip has been hurting me with each run (see #1 above).
3. My pace sucks (see #1 above)*. 
4. Running with two kids in a double jogger (a little over 80lbs to push)**. 

Some of the "love" things about running.....

1. My pace may be off and I may weigh quite a bit more, but I'm getting out and exercising.
2. I'm taking much needed "me" time.
3. I'm hopefully setting a good example for my girls that taking care of yourself and exercising are important.  The Older One always asks me at the end of a run "Are you happy yet?" because I told her that running makes me happy and I need it :)

Sweaty after an 8 mile early morning run.

Now, I need some good running play list suggestions!  I had play lists that helped me through my runs in the past. This time around I've been too lazy to create new ones.  I've simply been listening to my S!rius radio through my phone, but I'm super bored with it.  I'm open for song/play list suggestions!



* In the past, I had a decent pace going for me, but I never really monitored my pace and just noted it after a run was complete. When I've trained in the past, it was me, a heart rate monitor, and an iPod. Now that I have a plethora of running apps available to me on my phone, there are a million and one things that are tracked with each run. I had to shut off the coaching that tells me my pace every half mile. My pace has always been all over the place, and continues to be random. But listening to some lady tell me my pace is awful really plays mind games with me.

** In the past, I could run whenever I needed to, knowing there was a significant other there to watch the kid. This time around, I either have to push kids in or inconvenience my sisters or the neighbor to watch them. I had hoped it might be some extra "bonding" time between the kids and I, but they whine most the time or pick on one another and I end up putting my headphones in my ears so as not to listen to them say "Mama, she's touching me" or ask "Are we almost home yet?" over and over again.

First Day - May 2012

Looking forward to the first of the month falling on a weekend again. Life is a little more colorful then.

Thanks Instagram for all the help this month!

I'm linking up with Nicole on the first of every month. What a wonderful, easy way to capture normal, every day happenings on the first of each month.  This is life. Captured.