I've Moved!

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Trail Run Tragedy

These were the leaves I'd come to see and enjoy. I even stopped along the way to take a quick shot with my phone, and I DO NOT stop during a run.

Now I know that taking pictures of leaves during a run will never be a problem for me again, because I'll not be running that close to leaves along a trail. EVER AGAIN.

Why? Because my IT Band and some obscure muscles in my hip can't handle the steep slopes, soft-give-way-right-under-your-foot surface, and limb jumping that must be done on the trails in my neighborhood. These trails were meant for walking, my friends, and nothing else. Not for me, anyway.

This was the first run, in months, that I couldn't finish. And it was the first that I stopped running because of pain. Not fatigue. Pain. I couldn't walk properly for about a week after that run, but I got a cute shot of some leaves, right?

Then, about a week later, I attempted a run on my treadmill, figuring I was on a really stable surface, and I could stop whenever my hip called for it. Call, it did, and only a mile into that run, I called it off.

Then? I got sick. Snot all over the place, head exploding with pain, coughing up phlegm balls the size of small kittens, sick. Why? Because I dosed myself with thousands of pity-woe-is-me-I-may-never-run-in-another-race SUGAR calories. Smart, eh? So I've gotten myself so sick, that I haven't been to the gym in an entire week. That hasn't happened since, well, since I first injured my hip.

As irony would have it, staying out of the gym and not running seems to have given my hip the break it may have needed, so, I plan to go for a nice, long trail run tomorrow!??!! No, I'm not that stupid. But I do plan to get right back into the gym tomorrow, and I am really looking forward to it.

You know those freaks who are cranky if they don't get to go running each 24 hour period? The people who insist they run for fun? Well, I'm not that far gone yet, but I get them. Because I am truly, anxiously, so excited and thrilled, to go to my Interval class tomorrow. To be part of that group that sweats like crazy for an hour and pushes weights around until muscles beg for mercy. To rush out the door as though I'm headed off to see a great movie with a good friend and drive a little on the manic side, just to get my good spot under the fan, away from those absurd air fresheners that spray poison every five minutes in the face of unsuspecting oxygen-gaspers.

Do I think that my junk-food spree was rewarded with a repaired hip because of a forced recuperationfromtheplague period? No.

But I do think that God will make, and has made some beautiful things out of my messes, in spite of myself.

And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.
-Romans 8:28

I Weigh Less Than My Husband Now

And it feels Grea-aaaat! (I see Tony the Tiger in my mind's eye right about here).

He's a pretty lean guy (my husband, not Tony), so it's harder for me to pull this off than a lot of women, so I'm giving myself some crazy credit right about now.

I've switched around my food a little bit and have been reading about becoming "metabolically efficient" when I run, and I think it is all paying off. So off we go for Thanksgiving, and I hope to come back in a few days the same weight or even a bit lighter. I'll not be going crazy at the Thanksgiving table. My version of "crazy" will be having some mashed potatoes when I ordinarily would not. That and a slice of pumpkin pie shall grace my lips. But I'm actually really looking forward to the turkey. We may talk my folks into trying a deep fried turkey this year, and if all goes well, and the house is still standing, I may have a nice pile of turkey on my plate :)

Since I doubt I'll be blogging before we get back, I have to take the time now to share a list of things for which I am very grateful:

• Knowing and being known by God; being given the free gift of salvation, which I truly do not deserve
• Parents who have always taken care of me and my needs; with great depths of love on top of it
• A husband who puts up with my moods and who is faithful, hardworking, funny, and very, very, kind. He is truly the love of my life and I love our life together
• Two precious girls who make me laugh and smile. They are healthy, and that alone is a cause for tremendous thanksgiving. They have made me a better person, and allowed me to get an idea of how much God must love me.
• A safe home and good food to eat, warmth when it's cold, and cooling when it's hot. Flowers along my front sidewalk and Japanese Maples that always make me smile. Four very hairy, shedding cats who add tons of spice to our lives.
• Friends. A sweet long-time best friend who knows about all of my 'warts' and still loves me. And a group of Bible study friends who make me laugh until I pee in my pants, and then pray for me when I'm broken.

When I read through that list, I am so full of gratitude it almost makes me cry. I know there will be dark times in my life again when it's hard to praise my Creator; but while it's easy in the midst of this abundance, I can't help but want to scream this list from the top of the glorious mountains we're going to visit this week.

As I don't want to embarrass my parents in front of their neighbors, my little blog will have to do ;)

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you!!

Motivated Mama

Whew! It was not a good month. And it was a wonderful month. How's that, you might wonder?

Well those few weeks of waffling around with my eating were a BIG problem. One I hadn't dealt with in many months. Because of that, my net loss for the month was a whopping .4 lbs.

That said, I learned a lot and will be working diligently in the future to protect what I have gained (or lost?!) over this last year :)

The 'wonderful' of my month comes mostly in the last two weeks. This past one, I lost 4 whole pounds. That's unheard of for me!! I was getting to a point where a half pound loss was a reason to rejoice (it is, actually) but 4 pounds?!!! Crazy-amazing, Biggest Loser-esque type loss in my humble opinion.

So I've hit a brand new low, and I am really excited about it. I have plans to keep up with Keelie and her Holiday motivation plan, and my first thing was to set a goal for January 1st. It was to hit 145 by then, but I think I need to change that a bit. Hallelujah! So, my new goal is to reach the 130's. 139.8 would be just fine by me.

I'll have to plow through Thanksgiving, a Disney trip with LOTS of eating out, and some Christmas parties. Then Christmas Day and New Year's Eve. Can I do it? Yup, I think I can. But it's gonna take some work.

Anyone else up for an end of the year challenge?

First Road Race!!

Posting about this race has been put off for far too long...lots of unhealthy food has gotten in my way, but I'm pushing through, and moving right along.

Just to be clear, the above pics are not of the actual hills I ran during the 6K, but I did tackle these hills a few days later when we went to the NC mountains to see the leaves. That said, the hills I did run during the race felt like the pictured hills.

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So the days leading up to the race were less than stellar. I ate like a maniac with a desire to destroy all healthy cells. As I mentioned in another post, my BFF was in town. She also happens to be my favorite binge-buddy, and we did horrible things with food that week; both of us are dismayed and are working on not repeating that again.

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Anyhoo, I really didn't want to run the race. I was worried about how I'd been eating and how I'd feel while I was running on junk food. I also had a little performance anxiety since my husband decided to tell people at work that I was running a race. In addition to that, this annual race starts and ends right in my own neighborhood, so the chances of random friends/neighbors showing up to watch (and judge!!) were freaking me out just a little.

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My husband and BFF really left me no choice and kicked me out the door in time to run. Accompanied by my two 'prodders' and our combined four kids, I walked from our house to the starting point and pinned on my very first race numbers. Then I started to lose it a little when I saw our Pastor (also a neighbor) walk over with numbers of his own pinned on his shirt.

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I had no idea he was planning to run (or be there!). He's been on a big health and running kick and has moved well beyond the 5 or 6K race distances. In fact, the next weekend, he told me, he would be running a Half.

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I pleasantly inquired about his wife (a sweet lady and friend) who also was training for a Half, and he let me know that she'd be there shortly. Yay. Now I not only had spectators I wasn't expecting, but fellow runners who'd know exactly how pathetic I was at this running thing. I gave Husband and BFF ugly looks. Husband was clueless. I think BFF could read my mind.

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What could I do then but run? So I went to the starting line behind Pastor and Wife, and tried to get my iPhone set up with music and the Nike Plus App I like to use. The race started, and I spent the first 1/4 of a mile fighting with the Nike program while simultaneously falling into those drainage/gutter things along the edge of the road. One thing I hadn't thought about during my practice runs was what it might be like to run as part of a herd.

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I finally had to give up on my running App and just switched over to a favorite Playlist; I put the phone back in my Spibelt, strapped it around my waist and looked up for the first time since we started the race. Wife was just ahead, so I decided to try to keep up with her.

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Then I started to question my sanity. What is the purpose of this racing stuff? What the heck would inspire me, or anyone else for that matter, to purposely do something so uncomfortable? What is the meaning of life??? Okay, the last question didn't occur to me at that moment, but I was almost there.

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Then I just ran. I followed Wife. I lost Wife. I caught back up with Wife. Repeat.

My heart rate monitor stayed pegged at about 178 throughout the entire race, and I knew I wasn't going to push any harder than that, so I just did what I could do, and was excited to still be able to see Wife just a few strides ahead most of the way.

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I really wish I'd had someone in my head to transcribe my thoughts during the race, because they'd probably give me a good chuckle right about now. I remember being surprised to pass by some big muscular guys, and to find some really 'fit' looking runners walking up the big hills. I lost Pastor early on, along with a girl I regularly see in the classes I take at the gym.

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The most beautiful sight in the world was Husband and BFF with our kids just a few yards from the finish line. Pastor (who probably ran home for a shower and meal and then back) was there too, cheering Wife and me on to the finish line. That was, oddly enough, one of the best parts. I kept up with Wife! She mentioned her desire to run her Half at a pace just under 10-minute miles, so I thought I might be able to stick with her. Actually doing it was so nice.

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We stuck around and cheered many of the other runners on to the finish line. A good twenty minutes later, people were still coming in, and my oldest daughter kept asking if they were part of the same race I was in :)

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Here's the really fun part: the next morning I arrived at church, and Wife handed me a bronze metal!! She and Pastor had stuck around until the end and heard them call my name for third place in my division. How crazy funny and awesome is that, all at the same time? My time for the race was 36:35, so I did run just under 10-minute miles. And I didn't die. And I didn't quit. And I will run another race, because, while I still think running races is a nutty idea, I've got my own kind of 'crazy' going on, so I should fit right in.

Little Keebler Devils

This is just a quick post to protest the Keebler Elves newest sin: they have stolen from the Girls Scouts.

My childhood BFF was here all last week (one reason for my lack of posting) and we slid into old habits together: eating food that's not really food while simultaneously throwing our blood sugar all over the charts. I gained 5 pounds in one week. Seriously? It took me a month to lose that.

Anyway, not one to cast the blame on myself ;) I am planting it firmly in front of the feet of the Keebler people. Now, instead of only having to avoid my favorite cookies in the world (those coconut/caramel things, along with Thin Mints) ONCE a year, now I have to do it every time I visit my local grocery store. Which I do at least twice a week.

They've gotten their hands on the Girl Scouts' recipes, and have made exact replicas of one of my favorite treats/worst nightmares.

I guess shopping 'the perimeter' is what will keep me safe, and those darn cookies out of my line of sight.

Onto healthier endeavors, anyone interested in how my first race went??!! Well I'm going to include details in my next post, but I wanted to take a couple of pics first, so I can share photos as well as words....

Will Run For Gadgets

Or, more specifically, for running gadgets!

I am all set for the race (running gear-wise). I was putting my iPod in an armband to run, but when I recently switched to an iPhone (which is bigger), I was in a real pickle. I have the phone in a protective case that's a real pain to remove, so I went on a hunt for a belt with a pouch, and I found that cute little Spibelt!

It doesn't bounce around on my waist, whether I have it on my stomach or turned around to my back, and it could hold money and a key if I really needed it.

Also pictured is my heart-rate monitor. I had a Polar once upon a time, and also another brand which recently quick working. I really wanted a new one, but didn't want to spend much, so $35 was my total for this Timex. It seems to work like a charm, except when I'm on my treadmill ;) I guess there's too much interference... But where I really need it is outside anyway, so I can't complain. It's doing a great job of helping me stay at a decent pace; no slacking, no over-doing it.

My last, but not pictured, and favorite gadget of all? My iPhone. More specifically, the NikePlus app that I have on it. I just downloaded it before my last run, and was I in for a treat, or what?!!

Since I happen to live a street away from where the 6K I'll be doing next week is located, I've been running the exact route for practice. I'd mapped out the mile markers in my car so I could check on my pace.

Well, this NikePlus thing does it all for me. It tells me (through the music that I have playing) when I've hit each mile, and what my pace is. When I'm all done, I can look at a map of where I ran, what the elevation was, and what my pace was at different points. My girls got a big kick out of looking at all of this on the computer when I got home.

I was so inspired, I ran an extra mile just for fun. They were calories well earned, because my best girl-buddies and I went out to eat at an Italian place last night, and I ate my fair share.

I didn't plan on running much after this 6K, but I've heard of this little race down at Disney World (the Princess Half-Marathon) and I'm interested. With the Nike app, my training, if I decide to go for it, sure would be more fun to do.

Question for those of you with feet :)

Are there shoes that you prefer for running? Anything I should know about running shoes, specifically? I have a pair of New Balance that I'll use for the next month or so, but I probably should start looking around for a new pair.