A little bit of Zumba

I feel like I only come on here and complain lately. All I want to talk about today is how tired I am. I am exhausted but how interesting is that? So I will try to find something more interesting to talk about.
It poured outside today. D was supposed to have a baseball game this afternoon but it was cancelled. I had decided to not run because of the game but while I was sitting at home waiting for Chris to get up from his nap I decided I didn't want to run in the rain today. (I think I'm also becoming the weather channel, I seem to always talk about the weather as well.)
Tomorrow I'm going to try Zumba. I have never done it but I've heard it's fun and a good workout. Im looking forward to going, I'm going with my former pastor. She left because she has a kid and felt she needed to be a stay at home mom rather than take care of an entire church. She was an awesome pastor and I miss her a lot.
Please excuse any typing errors tonight, I'm actually typing this on my phone. :-)

No more quarantine

I like wine.  It took me a while to develop the taste for it, but now . . . I really like it.  I don't drink it as much as I'd like to because I'm still breastfeeding, but once in a while I splurge.  Tonight I splurged.  Wine with cheese, even string cheese, is good.  I ended up eating 2 string cheeses because it tasted so good with my wine.  *sigh* 

I went for a 4.5 mile run today.  It was really, really nice.  I was tired, but by the time I got home all I remembered was that I enjoyed the run. I did a nice long stretch in the backyard, and then a nice long shower.  On weekdays I don't get that all the time because we are so busy with Damian's activities.  Usually I'm rushing to get my run done before we have to go somewhere for Damian. 

Quarantine is over!  Happily Maddox has been on the medicine for 5 days and can now mingle with the rest of the world.  He is growing so fast, I can't believe that he's almost one.  But then, I can't believe that D is 13 already.  Maddox is into everything. He even took half a step today.  He climbs into and onto everything.

Slow day

Maddox not sleeping is really starting to wear me down.  I am so tired all the time.  Today Damian had a baseball game, but because of Maddox's whooping cough, I didn't go.  D went with a friend of his and I was stuck at home all day with Maddox.  It was sunny and nice (looking, I didn't actually go outside) this morning and early afternoon.  I wanted to go for a run, but I really didn't want to go with the jogging stroller (that was hard).  By the time Chris got home, I was exhausted, and I did nothing.  I sat on my butt all day, but I'm getting very little sleep.  Which makes me more than a little tired.  Anyway, that rambling paragraph was all to say, I didn't go for a run today. 

I did make dinner.  It was fabulous.  I made general tsao's chicken that I found on Pinterest.  I added water chestnuts and carrots, and reduced the amount of snow peas to the recipe.  It was delicious! After dinner Damian and I had a cake in a mug which was good. 

However, I've been eating 1-minute muffins that I found on Katie's blog and I found the cake in a mug very sweet. 

A good weigh-in

Guess what?  Maddox's test for whooping cough came back . . . positive!  You could have knocked me over.  I thought Chris was crazy asking them to test for WC.  I was especially mad that he mentioned at my work and that it became a huge deal.  I thought it was a cold.  I feel terrible that I had Maddox at my work when he actually did have WC. 

Chris and I had to go to the dr today and get an antibiotic for it today.  If we don't get treated as well, then we could just keep passing it back and forth to each other.  Maddox is the one that it is dangerous to have.  Babies can die from it.  Thankfully we caught it early.  Our babysitter has a 1 year old and he actually is much worse than Maddox. 

I started off my day more than a little mad at my babysitter.  She text me this morning and told me that her son was coughing terribly and she said she was going to take him to the dr.  The reason I was mad was because she "called in sick" on Monday as well to take her son to his 1 year checkup.  She regularly "calls in sick."  I have used one day of my sick leave for myself, the rest have been used because of her.  She only watches Maddox 1 and a half days a week.  Chris works 4/10s and has Tues-Thurs off, so I only need her Monday and Friday morning, since I get off work at 1 on Fridays.  Needless to say, I've been very frustrated with her for "calling in sick" so often.  I felt terrible after I found out Maddox tested positive for whooping cough.

According to what I've heard whooping cough,  or pertussis, is on the rise again and Skagit County has one of the highest, if not the highest, rate of WC in Washington (Chris said in the US, but I don't know if I believe that).  The vaccination helps, but doesn't completely prevent it.  Chris and I not only got antibiotics for it, but we also got a TDaP vaccination.  (Damian and Maddox have been on antibiotics since Maddox went to the dr on Tuesday for "just in case.)

So, after googling whooping cough in Skagit County, I found that the county south of us, Snohomish county has the highest number of cases (link here) but Skagit County the highest rate in the State per 100,000 (link here).  This is another interesting article about it. 

Anyway, after the dr, we dropped D off at baseball practice, then went shopping, THEN I was able to go for my run.  I went down my old trail with the "horrendous hill" (sorry, I can't find the post where I talk about it originally) and was able to run up the hill.  It was hard, but I did it, and I didn't stop.  My time was kinda slow today but I was kinda messing around and swerving around tufts of grass. It felt like a harder workout, but it made the run slow.  But that's okay, I don't mind.

The ducks that live along the trail I run.

I almost forgot, today was my weigh in.  And I am happy to report that I am down to 165.8.  I'm super excited about that.  But there's this voice in the back of my head that says "that's as low as you'll go, next week you'll start going up again."  I wish I could get that out voice out of my head.

Fascination

I am so happy tomorrow is Friday.  I am tired, not that I'll get more sleep, Maddox wakes up no later than 7, usually earlier, every morning, but at least I won't have to go to work on Saturday and Sunday.

It rained all morning and was dripping this afternoon.  I knew I needed to go for a run, so I put on my hat and ran 3.3 miles.  Then later this evening I was feeding Maddox and noticed that the sun came out.  I saw several runners run by my house, I was wishing I had waited a couple hours.  Oh well, at least I ran. 

There was nothing noticeably exciting about my run.  It was nice to do 3 miles again.  I changed up my route and am no longer going up the dreaded hill.  I don't miss the hill, but I do wonder if my ability to run up it has disappeared.  I will have to try it out sometime this weekend. 

I am fascinated with watching other runners.  I stare at them until it gets uncomfortable for them (if they noticed).  I look at what they're wearing, I wonder how fast they are going.  I just like to watch people run, and I feel jealous of them. I was running today and a lady passed me going the opposite way.  She was gorgeous, and she said hi.  I thought "I wish I was a runner like her."  But wait . . . I'm running too.  I felt frumpy and like an imposter after passing her.  Anybody else fascinated by other runners?

Tomorrow is weigh in. All week my weight has been pretty steady at 166.  I just know that I am going to get on that scale tomorrow and it's going to be higher than that.  I'm thinking of changing my weigh in day.  It seems that Friday is the day my body decides to be the heaviest.  Although, if I changed my weigh in day, I'm sure that would be the day my body would be at it's heaviest.  If the scale says 170 tomorrow I may need to buy a new scale.  My current one will be in pieces. 

Censored!

I had a long and complicated story written out about my morning at work.  I was very frustrated and annoyed and wanted to rant.  However, I realize that things that get posted online about work can come back and haunt you.  It was not really about my job, just one person that really bothered me today, but she does work in my office and I was badmouthing talking about her.  So I have decided to censor myself.  All I will say about it is that today I was transported back to Jr. High School.  I am a grown adult with kids of my own, I do not need to be treated like I am 13. It had to do with yesterday's post and the dreaded words whooping cough.  (No, my son does not have whooping cough!!)  Throw in a little gossip, a few accusations and a whole lot of "tattling" and that summarizes my morning. 

Anyway, I did not go for a run today.  Damian was supposed to have a baseball game and I didn't feel like figuring out how to get a run in and go to his game, so I decided to skip it.  I don't have a set day off of running, I just take a day off when life gets too hectic.  However, D's game was cancelled because of rain but I still didn't run.  I will have time to go the rest of the week, so today was my day off. 

My sister's (she is my best friend also) 40th birthday is in September.  I was thinking I need to do something for it.  However, my oldest sister (who I'm not close to) turned 40 a year and a half ago and we forgot about it, so it has to be a secret discreet.  Anyone have any ideas that are budget friendly?

Finally, a 3 mile run!

I'm getting later and later at posting on here.  I almost went to bed without posting at all.  *sigh* That's the first step to justifying that it's okay to skip a day, then it will be two days, and so on.  So, I'm on here at 10pm posting because . . . well, because I need want to.

Last night Chris was complaining about his jaw/teeth hurting.  This morning he said he could barely open his mouth.  I told him he should go to the dentist.  (He has a huge aversion to going to the dentist.)  The thing is, his mom works as a receptionist/accountant at a dentist office and she gets in on her family discount.  So pretty much, she bills our insurance and then we don't have to pay the rest.  Nice, huh? Pretty much free dental . . . I say go as often as needed while it's free, cuz it's not always gonna be free.  ~Chris hasn't been in over a year, I go faithfully every six months with Damian, and will with Maddox as well.

Anyway, he finally calls his mom to make an appt for today.  Maddox had a dr appt for his cough at 11:20, so Chris went to the dentist at 9am.  Chris text me at about 11 to tell me that there's nothing (major) wrong with his teeth, he just got a kernel of popcorn stuck in his gums and it caused an infection.  Funny thing about this, Chris doesn't eat much popcorn I eat a lot, and it was from the kettlecorn I got at the street fair on Saturday, and he doesn't like kettlecorn, he had maybe 3 kernels.  So from those 3 kernels, he got an infection that he had to go to the dentist for. 

He was prescribed some pain pills, which he then took 2 of and he tells me "I'm feeling giggly."  Remember, he still has to take Maddox to his dr appt.  So I asked him if he's okay to drive, and he says "yeah, I'll just close one eye and drive with the other rolmao"  *sigh*  Thankfully he made it okay.  (Maddox just has a cold, but they are testing for whooping cough because there's an epidemic outbreak here.)

I had a hair appt today.  I really like getting my hair done.  I mean, who doesn't?  It's so relaxing to sit there and let someone else do your hair so you don't have to.  I feel the same about pedicures and manicures.  Unfortunately, I'm trying to save for a weekend getaway with my sister when I quit breastfeeding Maddox, so I have to cut back on the pedicures.  :-(  I decided to try to do my own nails tonight, which is why I'm so late posting.  This is my first ever attempt at decorating my toenails, and the actual polish job is not great, polish on the skin, but otherwise I'm kinda proud of them.  :-)

Anyway, to keep Chris from driving as much as possible I decide that I'm going to run home from the hairdressers.  Although, thinking back, this is a flawed plan because the reason I didn't take the car was because he needed to take D to gymnastics.  Anyway, I finally did my 3 miles today.  However, it was no where near the pleasant, "easy" 3 miles I envisioned.  The sun did not shine today, it rained most of the day (thankfully not while I was running) and there was a wind.  I think the last three days of wimpy short runs has lowered my endurance a bit.  Maybe I'm imagining it, but it was not a fun run.  Maybe tomorrow will be better. :-)

Plus, I forgot to use the bathroom before leaving the hair salon, so that determined my route.  I took a detour to a park where I knew there was a restroom.  This should serve as a reminder to remember to use the bathroom before leaving for a run, I seem to have a problem with that . . .

Disgusting but better than a portapotty

 From what I've read, lots of people have bathroom issues while running, but usually only on long runs.  I only run 3 miles for goodness sake! 

Pretend runner

Today I had a very short window in which I could go for a run.  This short window included taking Maddox in the jogging stroller.  If you ever see someone running pushing a jogging stroller and they are making it look effortless, they are deceiving you.  Pushing a jogging stroller while running is hard, hard work.  I had a hard time throughout the entire run.  I was out of breath at the very beginning and never really got it back.  I ended up only doing a little over 2.5 miles, but it killed me. 

The last few days, my running has not been that exciting.  Saturday my run was supposed to be a fun, get out there and run for a long way and it turned out to be way shorter than I thought wanted, Sunday I'm just lucky I got out and did the short run I did, and today the jogging stroller kicked my butt.  I think I just need a day where I go run and enjoy it.  Hopefully tomorrow I'll have the time to do that.

I am still weighing myself daily.  And I have to admit, I am getting a little excited.  Saturday my weight said 166 (remember my "official" weight on Friday was 168.8).  Then yesterday after my run, I was down to 162.2.  I'm sure that it won't be nearly that low on Friday, but it sure was nice to see it.  It started me thinking of seeing 15-.  I didn't weigh myself for years, so I honestly have no idea when I was under 160.  I can say that I've been around 170, plus or minus several pounds, for at least 4 years.

I wonder when I will start feeling like a genuine runner and not a pretend runner.  I went to the running store when we were at the street fair on Saturday and I just feel silly going into it.  I definitely felt like an imposter in there.  I was talking to a coworker about it today, and mentioned that I run 3 miles daily (other than the last couple of days) but I feel like a pretend runner.  She said that running 3 miles everyday is not a pretend runner.  Maybe someday I'll feel like I belong to the elite club of running.

Babies are very funny in the grass.  Yesterday I put Maddox down in his (very cute) shorts in the grass and he made the funniest face.  He wouldn't put one foot down.  Damian put him on his stomach and he got so mad.  I really didn't pay this much attention to these types of things with Damian, so I really enjoy watching Maddox at his age. 

Calgon, take me away!!

Today was a hard day for me.  Maddox still has a cough that wakes him up in the middle of the night and he can't get back to sleep because he's coughing so hard.  I found myself on the couch in the middle of the night holding him so he could sleep.  I woke up this morning and I was just tired.  I couldn't even drag myself out of the house for church. 

The weather has been beautiful this weekend and I kept looking outside and seeing the beautiful sun and thinking I really need to go for a run, but I just didn't feel like it.  Instead I just laid out in our yard and enjoyed the sun.  Chris came home and sat out there with me.  Then he tells me that he made plans for us to go over to some friends' house for a bbq.  I was just mad.  He left to go shopping and I decided I just needed to go for a run.  So I did.  It was a nice run.  Not quite 3 miles, but it's better than nothing.  And afterward I felt so much better.

The run I did today was a repeat of yesterday, except I went a little farther.  I wanted to go to the other end of the trail but I was expected at our friends' house so I cut it short, I went a little farther than yesterday, but not much. 

I really need a vacation.  I haven't really had one since Christmas.  I have to wait until July, when we are going camping.  I am really burnt out.  I just don't want to go to work, I don't want to do anything around the house, I didn't even want to go to our friends' house today. 

A not so long run

Today I decided I wanted to go a completely different route running.  I didn't know exactly where I was going to go.  I wanted to go for longer than 3 miles but had no destination or exact mileage in mind.  I didn't really decide until I was warming up, I decided to go to a bike trail that is close to my house.  I live near the middle of the trail so I figured I would take what I hoped was the long way to the trail and go to one end and then run to the other end.  When I got to the end of the trail (I've never actually gone all the way to that end) I looked at my mileage, it said 2.64 miles, which I thought was much farther than it felt, but whatever, it's GPS, it's accurate. So I figured I wouldn't go to the other end, I'd just run up the hill to my house when I got to my street.  When I looked at the mileage at my street it was pretty close to 4 miles so I thought that was fast, but cool, I'll just go home. 

I got home and looked at the app on my phone and it said I did 3.91 miles in 24 min.  I was shocked.  I couldn't even figure out how fast that was, I just couldn't believe that I did 4 miles in way less than what I normally do 3 miles in. 

Friday's run

Today's run, look at that avg pace!

I was taking a shower and thinking of all these things to say on my blog.  I wondered if it was because I normally go uphill at the beginning of my run so it makes me slower.  (Today I went downhill at the beginning.)  I even posted my time on facebook.

Well, I decided I needed to look it up on my computer.  Yeah, I didn't run 4 miles . . . I didn't even run 3 . . . this is the true reflection of my run. 

2.47 miles?? That sucks!

I decided to look up the map my phone registered as I ran . . .


My actual route

What my phone GPS registered












I was not happy about it.  I would have gone to the other end of the trail and then back to my street.  I'll probably do that tomorrow, and map the route beforehand so if my phone screws up again I'll know how far 4 miles is.  I'm thinking I should buy myself a Garmin or a Nike+  or something.  It would be nice to be able to have something that beeps or something at each mile so I know.  I'll have to save up for it.

After that disappointing news, Chris text me saying he didn't have much work and was headed home.  We ended up going to the street fair downtown.  It was fun.  The Tulip Festival is fun . . . if it wasn't for all the tourists, it'd be better.  ; )  We didn't go see the tulip fields, we've been there before and don't feel like fighting all the traffic.  The best time is to go in the middle of the week.

Bye, bye 170

Yay, Friday! 

I like Friday's, it's the end of the week, and I only work a half day.  Today was a nice day, not real warm (I do like the heat), but sunny for most of the day.  It's tulip season here.  Mt. Vernon is a farming community, and it's biggest crop are tulips. I love flowers, however I do not love the traffic that comes with the Tulip Festival (all of April). 

 I went for my regular run and enjoyed every minute of it.  I was thinking while I was running that I haven't really enjoyed my runs lately and I wasn't sure why.  I think I've been concerned about what I SHOULD be doing when I run and not just running because I enjoy it.  So today I enjoyed it.  It was nice.  And I ran pretty fast.

Today was my weigh in.  I am down to 168.8 (again). I hope that last week is the last time I see 170, but I seem to go up and down all the time, so I doubt it. 

Sick baby

Maddox's running nose turned into a cough.  Which has turned into a week of not much sleep for Mommy.  Maddox wakes up in the middle of the night coughing and has a hard time falling back asleep, so I end up holding him on the couch so he can breath easier.  This translates to me being very, very tired. 

Last night Chris had a friend over, they do it every Wednesday switching houses (Chris works 4/10's and has Tues-Thurs off).  Last night was our turn, I don't mind it.  The guy is nice and Chris doesn't have a lot of friends, so I'm happy he gets to hang out with someone regularly.  Last night they decided to go to a bar and play pool, once again, I don't mind.  What I do mind is Chris pounding on the door at midnight because he didn't bother to take a key with him.  I'm already not sleeping well because of Maddox and then I'm awoken by the dog's crazy barking.  I almost left Chris out on the porch, but decided I didn't want to listen to the dog all night.

Today when I got off work I was soooo tired, and it was raining, so I decided not to go for a run.  I find myself feeling guilty when I don't run.  However, I feel think I need to get out of that.  I run because I like to, not because someone tells me to, or is forcing me.  I'm not training for anything, I just want to go running, so if I don't, that is my choice and I don't have to feel guilty about it at all. 

I have several exercise type things in my house, and I never use them.  I have a couple "games" for the xbox, and a stepper that I quit using when I started running so I decided that I needed to break out Just Dance for the xbox.  :-)  I think it's a lot of fun and I don't ever do it, plus Damian can join in and Chris does occasionally. 

Tomorrow's my official weigh-in.  I'm dreading it.  I had a good weight earlier in the week, but I was up to 169 this morning.  Hopefully 170 stays far, far away.  But I'm sure I'll see it in the morning.  I really hate that number.

I get to use the word fartlek . . .

Damian finally had his first baseball game today.  He normally plays catcher, however, for whatever reason tonight he was in the outfield.  I was sitting there watching the game when one of D's teammates says to his stepdad "remember when you called me nothing?"  There was a pause, I couldn't see him, but can't you just see the guy looking around guiltily to see who heard?  Then the stepdad says "I didn't call you nothing, I said you're nothing compared to me."  What kind of person says that to a kid?  You know what the kid hears?  Exactly what D's teammate said he heard "you're nothing."  I am too nice, I wanted to punch that guy and tell him to treat his kids more respectfully and that he is nothing, however, I did not.  Unfortunately, I have to listen to this guy for D's entire season. 

I decided to try to work on increasing my speed.  I did fartlek's . . . or at least my version of fartlek's. I didn't run fast for very long, I tried to increase the distance the farther in my run I went, but they were pretty short.  The entire run was a minute faster than my usual time, 32 min instead of 33 and I definitely feel the extra effort in my shins tonight. 

I forgot to weigh myself this morning.  I read somewhere that contrary to what most diet plans out there, you should weigh yourself daily to see what your body is up to.  I don't know if that's true, but it seems to coincide with my obsession with the scale lately. I am only using Friday weigh-ins as my official weight. Anyway, I decided to weigh myself after my run this evening.

Surprise, surprise, I am down to 167 again (I realize there's a .6 there, but 167 sounds better, don't ya think).  I had to take a picture to have proof that I really go down that far.  I'm sure by tomorrow morning (or at least Friday morning) I'll be back to 170.  In fact, I decided to weigh myself after my shower, and I had gained 1.2 lbs in the shower.  Interesting. 

That's a much better picture of my feet than those horrible ones of my blisters.  :-)

kinda a blah post today

I am up to 4 followers.  Isn't that exciting?  :-)  So, if you are a follower, thank you so much for spending a little of your day reading about my ordinary life.

Yesterday I posted early in the morning to make up for my lack on post on Sunday and totally meant to post again in the evening.  However, yesterday was a completely boring day.  I didn't run because of blisters and I thought Damian had his first baseball game.  However, western WA weather decided that wasn't going to happen.  So instead of posting on my blog, I decided to try to update it.  I've only been on here a month or so, but I was already tired of my boring page.  Hope everyone likes it.  I do.

Today I went for my run, nothing too special about it.  My  blisters are still sore, but surprisingly they aren't too bad while I run.  I need to decide what I'm going to do.  If I'm just going to run 3 miles a day or if I'm going to increase my distance, or maybe I'll try to speed up.  Right now I'm around 10- 10:45 min miles.  I'd like to be faster, I'd like to do 3 miles under 30 min.  That would be pretty cool. 

I don't think I'm marathon material.  I am not too interested in running 26 miles.  Maybe in the future, but for now, that is not a goal of mine.  I don't even know if I'm interested in a half marathon.  13 miles seems so far.  You know . . . thinking about it, growing up I lived on a farm and the nearest town was about 13 miles away.  It's crazy to think about running that distance, that's a long freaking way.  In fact, I think the next nearest town (where I went to school) was around 25 miles away.  That's an even crazier thought to think about running that distance. 

Anyway, I think I might do a 10K.  I'll think about doing more than that next year. 

If it's broke, use duct tape

I'm so sorry I didn't post yesterday.  Saturday night Maddox woke up at 1am and was awake for 2 hours.  I did my normal Sunday stuff, church, clean house, run, make baby food, make dinner and by the time I was done for the day I was EXHAUSTED.  I had the worst headache and could barely keep my eyes open long enough to put Maddox to bed at 8.  I don't even really remember going to bed. 

Anyway, yesterday my blisters from Friday were feeling better so I decided to try to run.  I read online that you could put duct tape on the blister.  And a friend suggested it too to allow you to run.  (I hear all your "oh no she didn't"s.)  I did . . . I kept saying while I was doing it, I'm going to regret this, Damian asked me why I'm doing it if I'm going to regret it, and I said because I NEED to go for a run.  He told me not too . . . I went for a (almost) 4 mile run with duct tape on my right foot (that was the worst one) and it felt fine, until the very end.  I got home and before starting to stretch I felt I needed to get the duct tape off, I could feel the duct tape rubbing in a new spot, so I thought I should just take it off. . . easier said than done.  I pulled, and felt the skin pulling so decided to quit pulling.  Uh . . . yeah . . . well, here's a picture of the result. 

I ended up cutting the excess duct tape off and just left what wouldn't come off the blister.  I know that once you get rid of that protective skin over the blister it just gets worse and is longer to heal.  So I walked around all afternoon and evening with duct tape on my foot.  When Chris got home I showed it to him and he died laughing.  I told him that I may have duct tape on my foot for the rest of my life, the skin is just going to heal around it, and fuse it to my body.  :-)  *sigh*  (Cue laughter.)

I was sitting on the couch last night and was picking at the duct tape and surprise! it started peeling off, so I very, very carefully peeled, and it came off.  Whew! I am not going to have duct tape fused to my foot for the rest of my life.  :-)

Just a quick comment about my stupid weight, yesterday after my 4 3.88 mile run, I weiged myself and I was at 167.0 (yay!)  then this morning I weighed myself and I was back to 170.0.  Ugh!! How can it fluctuate so much??  I hate the scale.

I may post again tonight, just so I stay caught up.  Damian has a baseball game 45 min away this evening, so I won't be running.  Probably a good idea anyway to allow my blisters to heal a bit.  (I just wish they would heal faster, but by continuing to agitate them, I'm probably going to have them a while.)

Orange haired friend

I am seriously bummed.  The blister from yesterday really, really hurt today, the one on my right foot, my left foot isn't bad.  I can barely walk, let alone run.  It was such a beautiful day today, I was sooooo looking forward to running, but as I can't walk with a shoe (or even without) I figured I would never get a quarter of a mile running.  I really do love running and I hate that I can't go.  I also know how easy it is to get out of the habit of running, so I'm super scared that if I have to rest my blister for a few days that I won't start running again.  I just have to not let myself do that this time.  Although, endurance goes away so quickly, that a couple of days of no run will most likely be really noticeable when I start running again.  It's amazing how disappointed I am.  I really, really do like running.

Opening ceremonies for Little League

Today was a beautiful day, kinda cold, but sunny.  Damian's baseball season officially started today.  He didn't have a game, but they did a big jamboree thing and the younger teams had games.  So we did that this morning.  This afternoon I worked in my yard, cleaning up and killing weeds.  Then this evening a good friend of mine came over for a bbq and a fire in our back yard.  I don't see him often enough.  The last time I saw him was at Maddox's babyshower when I was 8 months pregnant. It was fabulous to catch up with him.  I hate it that we go so long between seeing each other. 

I can remember the day I met him.  I had been living in the Seattle area for 6 months and had finally found a job.  It was one of my first days at work and we had a staff meeting, he came to the meeting with orange-yellow hair and bright red skin (sunburn).  I thought he was the weirdest guy.  Who knew then that we would become such good friends?  I can't believe that was almost 11 years ago.  Wow, how time flies!  We were so young.  *sigh*

I forgot to post my weight yesterday.  Sadly, it's not good news.  I am back to 170.  I am really, really annoyed about it.  Monday I was 167, then the rest of the week I was between 168.2 and 168.4.  I get on the scale for my official weigh-in, and I'm up 2 (two, 2!!!!) lbs from Thursday.  I thought maybe it was a blip so I weighed myself today and still 170.  I don't understand why my body likes 170 so much.  I HATE that number.  I can never seem to get under it and any time I do, it goes right back up within a week or two.

Blisters hurt!

I would think that the proper shoe would not cause blisters, yet, I have blisters.  I have blisters in places I didn't know you could get blisters.  Right on the arch of my foot.  I had one on the inside of my heel, but not my ankle where you normally think of them.  I even bought fancy socks, which I actually think have made the blisters on my arch worse.  The lady at the run shop said that the socks wick away the sweat, and the sweat and slipping are what causes blisters.  Well, she was wrong about the socks . . . or blisters, I don't know.


Right foot, which the blister is bigger.



Left foot, you can see the blister on my heel best,
but there's on on the arch too.

Probably way more than you wanted to see of my feet, but there they are.  :-)

                                                                            

I was going to start doing Zumba on Monday with a friend, but then I realized that D's baseball games are Mondays.  I am very bummed about that.  I haven't tried Zumba, and really want to.  This particular class is free, so I'm really bummed now. 

Busy, busy day

What a day!  Damian told us yesterday that he had a wrestling potluck tonight to celebrate the end of the season.  He said he wanted to make Chris's cream of potato soup.  That's fine, but when?  He's got school, baseball, gymnastics, now a wrestling potluck. *sigh* 

So today I left work 15 min early so that I could get my run in.  I get home at 3:26, and think "great, I have a half hour to run before D has to go to baseball."  I completely forgot about drive time to the field.  I had a good run, I did my 3 miles against the wind (*sigh*).  Got home and was going to take Damian to baseball but he wasn't even dressed, and I was soaked in sweat (I guess those headwinds are good for making you work hard).  I jumped in the shower (shortest shower ever) and got him to practice.  However, he had to leave early to get to his potluck, so I go home to feed Maddox and then have to go back to pick D up, go home so he can change and then back to the car to head to the wrestling potluck.  Ugh, when does it get slower?  I feel like my life is non-stop right now.  The whole time I'm doing all this, I'm yelling at Chris because I'm annoyed that we have to do so much.

 I mentioned a few days ago that Chris hurt his knee.  Well, he decided to go to the doctor to make sure he didn't do major damage.  He went in for a knee problem and came out with high blood pressure medication.  *SIGH*  So he can't drive 2 days while his body gets used to the meds.  Chris has had issues with his blood pressure and heart palpitations for 3 years now.  He went to the ER in 2009 because the dentist took his blood pressure and it was so high they told him to go directly to the ER.  The dr that time told him to lose weight, quit smoking and don't drink so much.  It's been 3 years, he hasn't done any of it.  He quit smoking recently, but now he's chewing tobacco (don't get me started, it's extremely disgusting).  (Oh, his knee is fine, just a deep bone bruise that is taking a little while to heal.)

He told me a few weeks ago that he's serious about losing weight, so he needs my help.  However, whenever I point out serving sizes and calories, he just shrugs it off.  We had healthy dinner the other night, and then what does he do? He goes and gets a HEAPING bowl of his homemade cream of potato soup.  His idea of a "midnight snack" is a baked potato, a full can of chili, 2 hot dogs all drowning in ranch. And he doesn't listen to me when I say that's enough to feed a family of 4. 
Anyway, I really don't mean to bad-mouth him.  I love him, and he is an awesome guy.  He is extremely thoughtful and does sooo much with Maddox, not to mention he does half the cooking and half the dishes.  Have I said how wonderful he is?  Well he is. . . which is why I get upset about this blood pressure thing.  I don't want to be a widow any time soon.  I kinda need him around awhile.

Tomorrow is my weigh-in.  I've been hovering around 168 all week.  I was down to 167 around Monday.  This morning I weighed 168.  I'm so worried that I'll be back to 169 for my "official" weigh in.  I did HORRIBLE on my diet today.  Breakfast in the break room today (those darn drug reps are awful!), so that's a couple of donut holes, a blueberry muffin, then at lunch Chris cooked a Tony's pizza, and then the potluck tonight, more pizza, cream of potato soup, and a cookie.  I took a piece of cake, but didn't eat it.  I guess I'll save it for tomorrow. 

To lighten the mood, here's a picture I found lurking around on Chris's phone tonight.  :-)

A short, fast run

It is amazing what your brain tells you and how that affects your run/workout/whatever.  Today I decided to do a short run (I know 3 miles isn't that long, but I'm just a beginner, remember) so I did my old 2-mile run.  I guess old run = old thoughts.  This is the run I did when I couldn't run a mile.  So the whole time I'm running, I'm thinking of where my stop point is.  You know how it is, I'll just run to that tuft of grass, or that driveway, or that road, and then I'll walk for a bit.  I found myself seeing those spots where I would always stop to walk and my brain would say "okay, time to walk."  It just made the run very hard, and very tiring. 

I was trying to increase my time. I was hoping to get a 10min mile, so I thought maybe that had a lot to do with it.  But then even when I slowed down, I still felt overly tired.  I looked at my app on my phone when I got home and once again, realized that the reason I was so winded was because I was running fast.  I need to learn to listen to my body and realize that I'm running fast.

I was stretching in my backyard after my run today and noticed it was getting foggy.  I thought that was strange because it's raining.  Then I realized it wasn't fog, it was steam rising from my body. It was pretty cool to look at.  I tried to get a picture of it, but of course you can't see it. 

My first 5K

Sigh . . .  Easter candy.  I did not buy much Easter candy this year.  D is too old for all the "fun" Easter stuff and Maddox is too young.  However, I did buy one box of 4 Cadbury cream eggs (yum!) and jelly beans.  (I love jelly beans, the original).  Yesterday we went to the store and it's all on sale. *sigh  I bought some Reese's eggs and a small Easter bunny.  But seriously, it's the jelly beans that keep calling me. 
                                                           

I did it.  I ran 3.13 miles without stopping.  This includes the hill and even after the hill.  I just slowed waaayyyy down to catch my breath, but I kept going.  So today I accomplished 2 goals.  I ran my entire 3 miles and I have run up my horrendous hill for a full week. 

I think I'm going to enter a 5K and run it.  There is one coming up on May 17th, it's a fundraiser for a local agency that helps homeless and poor people.  They help with housing and all sorts of things.  I have referred so many of my clients there to help with housing, to get a GED, the list goes on.  I think I could accomplish 2 things.  1) I run a 5K and 2) I help a very good agency to help others.   This is the run:  Have a Heart Run.
                                                         

It has been extremely nice outside so far this week.  We had a fire (in a firepit) outside and Chris bbqed steaks.  I put Maddox down on the grass for a little while and he had no idea what to do.  The texture of the grass really freaked him out.  It was very funny.  Here is a picture of him not moving, because he didn't like the grass.

House of sickness

I have a house full of sickies . . . Damian has had a cough for a while and today he was sent home early because he was coughing so bad. Maddox has had a runny nose for a couple of days and this evening he's been crying constantly.  Chris hit his knee very badly and has been limping around now for a week or so.  I am the only one that is not sick.

Today was another beautiful day in the Pacific Northwest.  Yesterday we hit 72 degrees, which is a record for this area.  Today I saw a bank sign that said 72, but I don't think it was accurate, that particular sign is usually several degrees warmer than the true temperature.  However, I did not go running today.  Instead I got my nails done.  :-)  I figured I could use a rest day since my legs are still very sore from the 5 mile Tulip Run on Saturday and then my normal 4 mile run yesterday.

I don't have a set rest day.  Damian is so busy with all his sports so I figure whatever day is busiest is the day I won't run.  Today wasn't busy because of the sickies, but I really wanted my nails done and I am really sore.

I love how my clothes are fitting.  I've been wearing some old skirts that I haven't worn in a while.  It isn't that I am down any sizes, it's more that I quit wearing them because they didn't have the stretchy quality that most of my jeans have so they were too snug. 

I look forward to my run tomorrow.

Ouch!

Happy Easter!  How was your Easter?  Mine was nothing special.  Chris works weekends, so we didn't do any family stuff.  Besides, Damian is too old for the Easter Bunny and egg hunts and Maddox is too young.  So after church I did the dishes, cleaned the bathroom,visited with my mother-in-law who stopped by for a short amount of time, and ran 4 miles (well, almost).  :-) 



Damian got to ride with his Grandpa.  His very first motorcycle ride.

I don't know why, but my legs are super sore today.  I can barely walk, especially after sitting for a while.  I wonder if it's because I had Maddox (who is 17 lbs) strapped to my chest yesterday for my 5-mile walk.  I never would have guessed that it would have made so much of a difference.  

My 4 mile run today was okay.  I thought I would be able to run up the mile long hill because I've done so well running lately.  I must have been delusional.  I was not able to, though.  But I walked for half the hill ran for half the hill.

Tulip Run

So the Tulip Run Walk was fun.  My sister and I walked the whole 5 miles.  (She's not a runner.)  We made good time, we did it in 1:28.  However, Nancy got a blister just before the half way mark and we had to stop two times to try to fix it and I had Maddox strapped to my chest.  He's small for his age, but 17 lbs is still a lot of weight after 5 miles.  I have never run 5 miles, so I don't know if I could do the whole thing at a run.  My normal run is about 3 miles, with some major uphill, I think I could run a 5K no problem, as long as there were no big hills. 

I was on the Tulip Run website and saw our results, we were 4th and 5th from the end.  :-)  BUT we were not last.  I looked at the times of the groups of people that we were in front of us before we had to stop for Nancy's blister and they were at 1:21. We were pretty far in front of them, so I'm thinking if we hadn't had to stop, we could have made 1:20 or better.  Oh well.



Trail pic taken from tuliprun.com

There was a older gentleman in front of us at the beginning that had ski poles to help him run.  Looking at him we put him at 60 or so years old, looking at the results online, he was 83 and did it in 1:18.  That's great time for an 83 yr old!  I was extremely impressed with him. 

I'm pretty bummed that I took zero pictures.  I went and looked at the course photos, and wouldn't you know, Nancy and I and the group that was behind us did not get our pictures taken at the finish.  I am very bummed about that, and Nancy and I did not have anyone at the finish to take pictures.  Oh well. 

After our run walk, we went to Olive Garden for soup and salad.  That was delicious.  Soup and salad at Olive Garden is so hard to stop eating.  But I did, I had one bowl of soup and two plates of salad . . . and two breadsticks.  I was pretty tired when I got home, so took a nap.

I hope you all have a great Easter.  We are not doing anything except church.  Chris works on Sundays and doesn't really get holidays off. 

Why I love head winds . . . sorta

Why, oh why do people insist on bringing donuts to work?  Donuts are my downfall.  I love donuts.  This morning I went into the break room and there were 2 boxes of donut holes.  I decided to eat one.  Then I decide to see what the serving size is and calories, so I check the box.  The serving size is 4 donut holes at 200 calories.  So my brain says, you can eat 2 . . . it's not a whole serving size.  Instead I grabbed my 1 and practically ran out of the room.  I think that's a small accomplishment. 
                                                                        

I weighed in today, and while I was not 170, I was 169.4.  Which is the exact same as last week.  However, I was reminded earlier today by something that I read that I didn't start this running thing to lose weight, but to be healthier and because I like to run.  I want to eat what I like and I'm not crazy about changing it all.  I have made some changes and am willing to make a few more, but not so much that I dislike all that I eat, or eat "boring."  So I am going to keep weighing in, but I'm not going to stress about the numbers on the scale.  (harder than it sounds)  If I lose weight Yay! if not, then maybe I'll think about getting more serious.

I do notice changes in the way my clothes fit.  They are not so tight.  A pair of pants I used to love, but rubbed me wrong in the inner thigh, I can now wear without getting irritated at the rubbing (I don't even notice it).  Chris told me yesterday that I look skinnier (always nice).  These are positive changes that I enjoy, that have nothing to do with the scale. 

I didn't start this blog with the intention of making it all about losing weight, or running.  However, I have limited amount of space to store stuff I think about in my head, and right now my weight and running has consumed all of that limited space.  So for now I've been blogging about that.  I plan to continue to run, so we'll see where it goes.  :-)
                                                                       

Aren't they beautiful?

I bought new shoes.  :-)  I'm super excited.  I also bought some special socks. And I picked up my packet for the race tomorrow that I'm walking.  Of course, as soon as I got home I had to try out my new shoes.  It was a sunny, warm(ish) day and I was excited for my run.  However, as I started, I realized there was a wind. *sigh* So the whole way I was thinking of why I love head winds and here are my reasons. 

1.  Head winds cool you down when you are running.
2.  Head winds push you forward.
2. Head winds become tail winds . . . uh, head winds?? . . . when you turn around.
2.  Head winds cool you down when you are running.

Yeah, so I didn't have any reasons why I love head winds. 

I had a hard, hard run.  I wasn't really into it, and I usually am with sunny days, not to mention my new shoes.  I couldn't figure out why I was huffing and puffing before I even finished my first mile.  I figured it had a lot to do with the wind and I took yesterday as a rest day.  But even when I turned around (there were definitely times I felt the "tail wind" was still a head wind) I was still dying.  Most of the third mile is downhill and it still felt hard.  I didn't know why.  I got home and was so upset because it wasn't a fabulous, easy run.  I looked at my phone (Map my Fitness app) and I cut 2 min off my usual time.  I ran my normal 3 miles at 31.28 min. and I normally do around 33.30 min

Wednesday

Today

Isn't interesting that those two runs are the exact same route, but one says 3.08 miles and the other says 3.11 miles?  It's a GPS tracker on my phone.

                                                                    

So this morning I was sitting in my car listening to a song just before I went into my office.  A kid young adult knocked on my window and asked if I could help him get some breakfast at the store.  I work in social services, I love my job.  I chose, when I was about 14, that I was going to help people for a living.  I also believe that God calls us to be compassionate and love everyone.  I looked at this kid, and made a snap judgement.  And I said no, I couldn't help him (I got paid today).  I was sitting in my car listening to a Christian song, thinking how I need to be a better follower of Christ, and then the opportunity falls into my lap and I said no.  Immediately I felt guilty and felt that I needed to help this person, I got out of my car and looked for him.  The street I work on is straight, the streets around where I work are straight, I only sat for a min in my car before getting out and this kid disappeared.  I have no explanation for where he went, but the Bible verse "‘For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’ " Matthew 25:42-43 (I did have to look up where this Bible verse was, I didn't know it off the top of my head) echoed in my mind.  I wondered if God had sent this kid to "test" me.  If He did, I failed.  I pray that this kid found some breakfast, even if it didn't come from me.

Bracing myself

What a beautiful day it is today.  Unfortunately, I decided to take a rest day.  I don't want to.  I would love to be out there running in the cloudy sunshine (if you've ever lived in the Pacific Northwest you'll know what I'm talking about).  But my shins hurt.  I need new shoes, which I get tomorrow (yay!). I know rest days are important, but I just want to go running, especially on days like today. 

Saturday my sister and I are walking 5 miles in the Tulip Run.  I'm looking forward to it, but I don't know if I should count that as my "run," or if I should actually run later.  I guess I will decide what I'm going to do on Saturday, if it's super nice and I feel like running, I guess I will.

This morning I weighed myself, just to see where I'm at, so I'm not surprised by the gain weight on the scale.  I was at 170, which is a pound up from last week.  170 is the worst weight in the world.  I hate it.  Before I had got pregnant with Maddox, I was walking everyday, with short stints at running and I couldn't get the scale to budge much under 170.  I think I got down to 165, but was back up to 170 almost immediately.  After I had Maddox I went down to 167, but then was up to 177 a few months later. 

Needless to say, I really, really want to get past 170.  It has become my body's comfortable weight, but in reality it's about 30-40 lbs over what my "healthy" weight is.  It's so frustrating to see the scale stop on that number over and over.  I realize that getting healthy has less to do with what you weigh than how your clothes fit or just how you feel, but wouldn't it be nice for the scale, your clothes and how you feel all agree?

source

 

Oh how I missed you, ponytail shadow . . .

Today was a beautiful day in the Pacific Northwest.  A little cold still, but blue skies are always welcome.  The forecast called for rain with a possibility of thunder storms, but I didn't see any.  Some very nice fluffy clouds were out, but mostly just sun.  I like to watch my ponytail flip in my shadow.  I don't know why, but it's mesmerizing to me. 

I went to my local run shop today to ask about shoes.  She measured my feet and even though I've been wearing size 9 shoes since I was in high school, she said my feet measured 9 1/2.  Then she said that I should be wearing size 10 in running shoes to give my toes room.  I am completely opposed to changing my shoe size (it's hard enough to find cute shoes in size 9), but for running shoes, I will go up a size.  And she was right.  The room in my toes felt awesome.  Unfortunately, I was unable to buy them today.  I have to wait till payday on Friday. 

I think my current shoes have finally said enough is enough.  Yesterday I got shin splints and today they are worse, so I think I will take a rest day tomorrow and get my new shoes on Friday.  Of course I will have to test them out. 
                                                                  

We saw Hunger Games today.  It was very good.  Very, very close to the book.  I ate popcorn.  And then Chris said he wanted to go to Red Robin afterwards, I started out good.  I said I was full and just ordered water.  Then I saw these baja shrimp tacos . . . I ate 2, although, there were 3 on the plate.  Then . . . for dinner I made mac and cheese with hotdogs, and took D for ice cream.  I feel bloated now.  *sigh*  I have to be super good tomorrow for my weigh in on Friday.
                                                                   
I'm thinking of trying out Zumba.  I've never done it but I've heard it's lots of fun.  I saw this sign on my run and think I'm gonna have to try it out. . . .

I was just looking at this picture and realized that April 5th is not on a Monday.  That must be from last year.  I wonder if they still have the classes.  *sigh*

Another rainy run

Yesterday's run was sooo nice.  I really enjoyed it.  Unlike tonight's run, but I'll wait to talk about tonight and tell you about the battle with the hill.  I was able to run up it without stopping. *whew* However, I had to stop at the top and walk for a min.  Which is why on my goals I broke it up, running up hill and running the entire 3 miles.  You can find my goals here.  As soon as I'm done writing up this entry, I'm going  to go over and update them, including adding a little.

Chris and Damian looking for goldfish.

After running my normal three miles yesterday I got home and Chris said he wanted to go for a walk.  I will ALWAYS say yes to a walk with Chris.  He has gained quite a bit of weight and he has heart problems in his family.  He's already been to the ER due to breathlessness and his heart skipping beats, plus he has high blood pressure (he's only 34 and this was 3 years ago).  He was told to lose weight and to quit smoking.  He finally is working on his smoking now, but I think he's gained weight since that scare.  He told me the other day after I got home from my parents' house that he needs to lose weight because he now has to hold his breath in order to tie his shoes.  Needless to say, I'm worried and I will go for a walk with him whenever he wants.

Tonight . . . yeah, I didn't want to run.  It's been raining all day, and I had a dentist appt late afternoon, so I knew my run would be late.  I decided to skip it.  Then Chris came in and said it stopped raining, so I thought that must be God's way of telling me to go running, so I did.  It was hard and now my shins hurt a bit (I'm going to the local run shop tomorrow to ask about shoes). It didn't rain until after I got home, so that was nice.  I was thinking during my run that I'd really like to get my usual 3 miles under 33 min.  I seem to be stuck at that time.  I was going to add it to my list of goals when I got home.  I really pushed myself the last mile this time and came in at 31.58.  Wow!  So I added to my goals to run it under 30 min. 

Tonight's run. Fabulous!

I think the hardest part of going for a run is getting off the couch.  I've seen that saying on Pinterest, and I completely agree.  I get home and have to feed Maddox (I'm still breast feeding him), so I get very comfortable and then somedays (like today) I just DON'T want to get up.  I just want to stay on my butt and grow roots. 

I have been running 6 days a week (for the most part) for 5 1/2 weeks now.  I can't believe it's been that long, and at the same time it seems like forever.  I want to do this for the rest of my life.  I enjoy it and love the way it makes me feel.  I'm trying to decide if I really want to get into races.  I'm doing this Tulip Run Walk with my sister this weekend, but I don't know if I'll enjoy racing.  I guess I'll see how I enjoy the Tulip Run Walk.
I don't know if this happens to anyone else, but I always want to snack in the evening.  Last night was bad.  I chew a lot of gum to combat that desire.  I think it helps.  :-)  It's a good thing my dentist said my teeth are fine, I don't know what I would do if I was told not to chew gum anymore. 

P.S. If you look at the picture above of Chris and D, you see the line of trees in front of them? Well, the trail follows that line of trees up the hill and around a corner.  That is the gradual part of the hill that leads to my Horrendous Hill.  I have to run up the gradual part in order to get to HH. 

Is it Monday or Windsday?

I didn't eat very well this weeked at my parents' house. Plus just getting there and stopping to eat a meal on the way (read fast food) and then on the way back home.  Not to mention my Dad taking us out to eat after church yesterday and the constant desire to snack while visiting, I figured I was going to gain my hard lost weight back. 

My parents are overweight, my Mom gets a lot of Schwann stuff and that's mostly what they eat.  My Dad has had some major health issues recently and was told that he needs to lose some weight or he's going to die.  So my Mom has decided to try to start cooking again.  The problem is, she associates homemade cooking with eating healthy.  Saturday the dinner she made was a family sized can of chili on top of tortilla chips, cheese, onion and olives.  Since she put it together and baked it, it must be healthy, right?  My Mom is an extremely lazy cooker.  She doesn't like to cook and the easier the better.  The problem is that most "easy" foods are not good for you. 

So this morning I decided to see if I gained any weight. And sure enough, I was up 2 lbs, back to 171.  :-(  But, my "official" weigh in is not until Friday, so I have all week to lose those 2 lbs and more (hopefully).  On the bright side, I had to tighten my belt. I've had this belt forever.  Whenever I gain weight, I refuse to loosen the belt, so the notch I use it on is very pulled on.  I don't know how to describe it, but if you were to look at my belt, you could easily see which notch I use.  However, this weekend I had to tighten it.  I noticed that the belt was not holding my pants up. 
                                                                           

I am sooooooo looking forward to my run today.  I can't even tell you.  Three days without a run is too long for me.  I love it so much look forward to it everyday.  I'm always checking the weather to see if the sun is out.  I can't wait for summer when I get to run in the warm sun.  Unfortunately for me, the summer here doesn't start until mid to late July.

Today as I was walking into my office I noticed the sun (yay!) but then realized it's also windy.  I hate running in the wind.  Now the sun is mostly gone, but at least it's not raining as well.  The only thing worse than running in the wind is running in the wind and the rain. 

                                                                               

Today is the day that I get to run up the dreaded hill.  I've nicknamed it horrendous hill (HH) but in reality it isn't that bad.  It just looks really bad when you are standing at the bottom of it looking up, all winded from running up the gradual part of the hill.  I'm a little worried about not being able to make it the whole way since I took 3 days off.  I know I can . . . I know I can . . . I know I can.  :-)