Brain dump

What to write, what to write?


Hmm, so I have a few quiet minutes here with the laptop. I've ignored my blog for too long but now that I have the time to sit down and write a post, I have absolutely no idea what I want to say. 


Solution? Random thoughts in a bullet points list, of course!

• My struggle to lead a more disciplined life continues. I've had a lot of success losing weight these last 10 months and that has certainly required a lot of discipline. Heck, it's the most success I've ever had as I've discussed several times on this blog. I've just got to find a way to be more disciplined in other areas as well.
• Since I started this blog as a place to capture my thoughts about running, I'll point out that's one area that I'm still lacking discipline. I'm in the midst of training for the Medoc Trail Races in October. It's so freakin' hot here in NC that I'm having a hard time getting in my mid-week runs. I really, really, REALLY need to get these runs out of the way and do them in the early morning. And again, we go back to the lack of discipline thing. I am not a morning person - never have been. I swear it's like my semi-awake, early-morning self is another person. I go to bed with the best intentions to get up early. But that other person takes over and my feet never even hit the floor.
• Speaking of waking up early, school starts in 5 weeks. Yikes! Kate will be in the 6th grade and Will starts kindergarten. I can't think about that too much yet. I just can't believe he's old enough for school ...
• It may be stifling hot outside (even now at 9:00 pm), but it's very cool in my house (my husband Taylor and I definitely have different ideas of what room temperature really is). I stopped writing for a few minutes so I could put on my pajamas and socks.
• Kate's softball team has a tournament this weekend in Angier. The temps are supposed to be around 100. Already dreading it even though we love watching her team play. 
• I'm thinking of giving Taylor a short list of running "things" that I'd like to have for my birthday in October. I really don't want to put anything big on that list (although a Garmin would obviously be nice). The first item I've thought of is a fuel belt. I enjoy having a bottle with me but my handheld has started leaking so I need something else. It would be nice to have my hands free. Christy has a Nathan fuel belt for women that she recommends. Anybody else have any suggestions for a fuel belt or other gift ideas?
• We have Vacation Bible School next week. The pictures taken of me last year during VBS were what finally gave me the motivation to take control of my eating and lose weight. So, in honor of the changes I've made during this past year, here's a "before and after" collage of pictures to close this post. Based on the noise my children are making, I think my quiet time with the computer is over for now ...

What a difference a year makes

Three Things Thursday

1. My daughter started 5th grade yesterday. I am still amazed that she's just a couple of weeks away from being a 10-year-old. She's such a joy and is growing up so quickly. My husband Taylor and I have made it a tradition to take a day off from work for the first day of school (a half-day). So, after picking her up, we all went to eat lunch together and then went bowling. Will begins kindergarten next year. How does time fly by so quickly? My mama always told me to enjoy the moments because they're gone in a blink of any eye. I didn't believe that as a know-it-all teenager and young adult, but she was definitely right (about that and oh so many more things).

2. I won Teamarcia's Yurbuds giveaway! I am so excited. I've entered several giveaways but this is my first win. I'll definitely write a review once I give them a try.

3. Training for the Medoc 10 Miler is still going well although I'm a day behind this week. I'm logging the miles even though it's still slow-going. The good news is that my heel pain has not flared up again. Four miles are on the plan for Saturday. Next week I plan on increasing the running portions of my run:walk as long as my heel doesn't start bothering me again.

Five miles & a superhero

Today's run by the numbers:

Miles: 5.12
Time: 1:12:38 (14:11 avg pace)
Temp: low 80s
Wildlife: 2 deer, 1 baby field mouse
3-year-old superheroes: 1

My Nike+ sensor stopped working Thursday morning, so I used my mapped out an approximate 5-mile route for today. The RW smart coach plan called for 5 miles easy at 14:11 (yeah, nailed that!). I had hoped to run it between 13:30 & 14:00 average pace & had written down what those splits would be for each of the 3 sections of the route. I was on target to do just that at the end of the first section.

I was making the turn to go down one of the farm paths when I heard "Mama!" I turned and saw Kate and Will coming towards me on the golf cart. Will wanted to join me for a while, so he and I started down the path with Kate still in the golf cart to give him a ride when he wanted to stop.

A smile, a wave and a "good morning" was all I offered to the crew priming tobacco in the field next to the path. I don't know nearly enough Spanish to even attempt to explain Will's attire: bathing suit (no shirt), homemade cape made from a towel and sneakers. At least he wasn't wearing his goggles on top of his head ...

(We bought an above-ground pool this summer ... now Will wears a bathing suit at all times so he's ready to swim at a moment's notice. At least this is an improvement over the "George of the Jungle" phase when all he would wear was his underwear.)

Will stuck with me for most of the second section even though we had to take a few more walk-breaks and G2 stops than I would have made if I'd been alone. Then, of course, there was a meltdown when I explained that we couldn't run down the path into the woods since we didn't tell Daddy we were going there. He and Kate finally got bored and rode the golf cart back home while I finished.

So, I didn't finish the 5 miles in the time I'd hoped to ... but at least I have the memory of my free-spirit, "Super Will" running with his cape flying behind him. I'll give up a minute or two for that anytime.

the give-away made me do it ...

write this post, that is ...

But one of the bloggers I follow, Erica, is giving away a pair of Thorlo socks and I'm picking up an additional entry by blogging about it. I appreciate the idea for a blog post and especially love the chance to win something! My running budget is not very large and the chance to win a good pair of socks is exciting. I do have 3 pairs of Title 9 socks that I'm rotating now and love. They're thin and I'd like to try the additional cushioning of the Thorlos to see how I like that. Thanks, Erica!

I'm still working on blogging regularly, kind of like I'm working on running regularly. You know, when it comes down to it, I'm still basically the lazy procastinator I've always been. I have good intentions, but actually putting them into practice requires dedication. -sigh- I'm such a slacker, sometimes.

You know, I don't want this blog to be a place to criticize myself, but I've always been very hard on myself. As a whole, running has empowered me and made me realize that I can do it! I just have to constantly fight against the lazy side of myself, and a lot of times, I lose that battle.

Let's see ... what else ...

I've had a successful week with getting up early to run in the mornings 2 times. I love to sleep and am not a morning person at all, so getting out of bed before I absolutely have to is a victory in and of itself! I ran 2 miles both Wednesday and Friday mornings. I did a little upper body workout with my hand weights Thursday morning. I also walked during my lunch hour Thursday and Friday.

Kate and I have not had a chance to continue the couch to 5k plan since the first time last Friday evening. Starting that before school and softball are over was probably not a great idea. She had 3 softball games last week as well as 1 practice. That along with the last "real" week of school did not leave a lot of time for anything else. We'll try to get out and run sometime today or tomorrow. Four more days of school (yay!) and 2 more weeks of softball and then her schedule will free up ... isn't that strange to say that my 8-year-old has a schedule ...

Well, now I need to get up and go outside to help with yard work. It's a beautiful day here in North Carolina and our yard needs lots of attention!

Couch 2 5k & Kate!

I started the Couch to 5k with Kate tonight. She wants to start a training program and from everything I've read, this is the best one. We alternated 1 minute of jogging with 90 seconds of walking for a total of 20 minutes. She did great! I'm very proud of her and we hope to continue this for the full length of the program (8 weeks, I believe). Here's the graph of tonight's workout minus the 5 minutes walking before and after. We had a great time!

No running yet ...

but at least I'm blogging! I'm going to allow my toe a few more days to heal. The weather is supposed to be absolutely gorgeous on Saturday with temps in the 60s, so I'm planning on running 3 miles or so if my shoes don't bother the toe too much. Kate's basketball game is at 11:00, so hopefully I'll be able to go out after we return home. I hope to run what I'm calling the "big tree/woods" route in my running log. It's really very nice and is a logging road through the timber tract west of the farm. I may even be able to convince Taylor & the kids to ride the golf cart for a time. I love running that route, but as I go deeper in there, I have to admit it's probably not the best idea to be completely alone.

I also have a few plans for future blog posts. I'd like to take some pictures of the various places I run. There's nothing really unique about them, but I just want to add a little "where I run" piece to the blog. I read so many different blogs (all listed on the side). It's interesting that so many people live in cities/suburbs and run on roads all of the time. I think that would be a good change of pace, but I really like the serenity of running out here in the country. Of course, it's not like I have any readers ... I guess I just want to add the pictures for my own memories.

I've also started measuring out my 2009 runs on Google Earth with the idea of seeing how long it will take me to "virtually" run to the Outer Banks where we vacation each summer. So far, I've crossed over into Northampton County. I'll try to add a little more info about that in other posts.

I also want to start blogging a little about non-running related stuff, too. Mainly things going on here at home. It's a good place to write a little about some of the cute & crazy things our kids do. On that note, here's one example of life with Will.

We had our "small group" meeting at our house Monday night. Our small group has gotten smaller & smaller & now only consists of Taylor, my mother-in-law Selma, and our pastor Bob and his wife Penny. Bob gave each of the kids a container of the mini M&Ms which they were eating in the kitchen while the rest of us were watching a DVD during our meeting. A little later when Will came back in the den, we noticed that it looked like Will had a little blood on his nose. I didn't think much of it as he's getting over a cold. But as I was wiping it with a tissue, I discovered it wasn't blood but was melted chocolate. Apparently, he decided the M&Ms were the perfect size to fit in one nostril. Thank goodness there was no harm from it and I hope he doesn't try that little adventure again.

I guess that's it for now ... it's almost bedtime and I have a wide-awake 3-year-old to start calming down.