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.

Bye, Bye Binky

I never used a pacifier with The Older One.  She's a thumb-sucker.  I was really rather snobby when it came to pacifiers and didn't want my kids using them, no matter how many times I heard "It's easier to get rid of a pacifier than a thumb".  Then The Little One came along.  She had colic.  I had a few life events.  She got a pacifier.  And we were all so happy. 

Like many babies, she came to rely on the "binky" whole-heartily.  She needed it to soothe herself all the time.  When she wanted it, she would tap her lips twice and say "bink-binks".  And I gladly gave it to her. After months and months and months, I knew I'd need to start considering weaning her off it it.  So this past week,bat twenty months of age and much later than I ever thought I would let her keep it, I decided to simply throw all her pacifiers in the trash.  There was no binky-fairy.  There was no binky tree.  There was simply a question "Can I throw your binkies away?" to which an answer was emphatically returned "Noooooooo!".  I threw them away nonetheless while she watched me, she cried a bit, I gave her a sucker, and the rest is {hopefully} history.

I actually pulled the pacifiers out of the garbage and threw them in a cupboard "just in case".  I also didn't want her digging through the garbage looking for them.  She's asked for her "bink-binks" several times over the past four days, but I gently remind her we threw them away and then say "Yay, Little One!  You are such a big girl!"  If someone asks her what happened to her pacifier, she says "Bye, bye."  Then she fakes a cry and says "sucker".  Smart little kid!

Fingers crossed that we've made it through the rough part!  I don't want to go back to the land of bink-binks!

One of her favorite binkies.

Future Photographer

A little bike ride around the neighborhood with my old point-and-shoot, and T had to stop every few driveways and snap pictures.  (She picked out her own outfit today too).

First Day - April 2012

I remembered to take photos on the first of the month, yet I didn't do an extremely diligent job towards the end of the day.  I was tired and grumpy, and the little kiddos started to mimic me :)  It was a typical Sunday for us filled with running errands, a birthday party, and visiting with family. 

 

 

 

 

 

 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.

Is Chivalry Dead?

I’m all for women’s empowerment, trust me.  I grew up with a very liberal mother who I’m sure burned a bra or two at a demonstrations in the 60s.  Some of her women’s lib-ness may just have rubbed off on me.   (I remember even having a Rosie the Riveter postcard with the “We Can Do It” slogan hanging in my locker in high school).

And while I’m all for feminism, there is still something in me that swoons at a cheesy chick-flick when a man comes in to rescue a damsel in distress.  When I was a young teenager and first met my daughters’ father, I was immediately attracted to his gallantry.  For example, he would open my car door, each and every time we went somewhere, and it never stopped, and it always made me smile. 

I appreciate a guy who opens a door for a woman, lets a woman into or out of the elevator first, puts out his arm out to guide a woman to proceed first, helps a woman with her coat.  Call it a crazy mix of women’s lib and old-fashioned values, but I like to call these good manners.  If I had a son, I would love to see him do these things.  For me, it is a sign of respect. (And just as well, I'd love to see my daughters show respect to others by doing simple things like holding a door open and not expecting it to always be held for them).

So I ask the question, is chivalry dying a slow death?

I had dinner with a former co-worker the other night (non-romantic date, simply catch-up).  I could tell he had “good manners” and was very attentive to a woman companion.  He put his arm out to guide me to follow the hostess to our table, he asked for my opinion on a wine.  He was polite, in a very chivalrous way.

But then I went on a big city trip this past weekend.  I had two small kids in tow.  I could not believe how many times men cut in front of us, stepped in to elevators before us, and failed to hold doors open for us.  I even once looked over at my mother and raised my eyebrows and she kind of shook her head a little bit.

One example of chivalry still be alive and well and another example of chivalry dying a slow death.  Maybe I just so happened to have dinner with a nice guy.  And maybe I just so happened to witness what life can be like in a hectic big city.

What say ye?  Do you despise chivalry all together?  Do you think it’s here to stay?  Or is it dying a slow death?

Spiritual Healing

I was talking with a co-worker the other day.  She started opening up a bit about her past and some of the things she's gone through and how she's found herself again.  She mentioned that several years back she went to a center that was dedicated to personal "healing" - massages, aligning chakra, life coach, etc.  The more she talked about it, the more I thought about the place and made a note of the name, thinking I would look it up online at a later time.  Then the co-worker forwarded me a newsletter she received from the place.  I thought "What the heck, I'll give them a call". 
Now I'm a pretty skeptical person, Internet.  I believe in some things, but many things I take with a grain of salt.  I wasn't sure how open I would be to the process, but I made an appointment with an "intuitive healer and spiritual life coach" for her to align my chakras. I've never had this done before, and I barely understood anything about it.  And yes, I even Googled "chakras" to get a better understanding of it.

Chakras are our energy centers. They are the openings for life energy to flow into and out of our aura. Their function is to vitalize the physical body and to bring about the development of our self-consciousness. Having your chakras evaluated by a trained practitioner is a good way to get a better understanding of how your body functions on an energetic level.

Sounds kind of hokey right there, doesn't it? I'm not the incense burning, Buddha statues throughout the house, meditating kind of girl.  Not knocking it in any way, it's just not how I'm wired.  So it'd be accurate to say I felt a little apprehensive about the appointment I made, but I wanted to keep an open mind. (I often feel "off" inside and still have some anger that eats away at me that I want to let go). It couldn't hurt giving it a try; I'll try most anything once.

It turns out that the lady I made the appointment with has been doing this for many, many years, and does phone consultations with people all over the world.  She also has physic abilities. (Don't sign off yet!)  Now, I have had tarot cards read,  but only out of a yearly tradition for pure entertainment purposes with my older sister. 

Now I've probably convinced everyone that I'm a bit off my rocker by now!  Again, even I was rather skeptical as we began our session.  I kept telling myself over and over to keep an open mind though.

And boy, I have to tell you I was surprisingly enlightened by it all.  I needed that.  I need to learn to love myself again, and the session helped me realize that.  I was astounded by some of the things she was reading from my chakras, to the point I almost welled up with tears.  And I was not feeding her any information.  She was just spot on with what she "felt" my energy centers were telling her.  Kind of scary and weird at the same time.  I won't go in to all the details, because I'm still a little stunned by it myself.  She also focused on my general heath from reading my chakras, and told me I need to limit my gluten intake.  Interesting, because I never felt like I've had a gluten intolerance.

The crazy thing is, I made one more appointment with her.  It's not cheap.  But I'm intrigued. And if it's all in the name of making me feel better about me, have at it, I say!