I Have Run

Runners come in all shapes, sizes and speeds. We are one of the most unique groups of people I have ever been able to call myself a part of, and that is one of the things I love about us. The community of runners I have found in the blog world is a group of accepting, caring, encouraging people who have a shared passion for this crazy thing we all do. For the most part, I have experienced the same thing when I line up for a race. I am surrounded by people skinnier, fatter, shorter, taller, older, younger. Yet here we all are, united by running. And although I am often a little intimidated, the feeling has always been created within myself and never as a result of the people around me. I realize we are all human and have different personalities and insecurities, but I was still disappointed when I heard the conversation going on between two women in front of me in the port-a-potty line at my last race. They were taking turns making fun of a woman in the line next to us. Fortunately they

1. The Princess started preschool on Monday. She literally couldn't have been more excited. Some of the excitement had to do with her new clothes. While the Princess was at school, I took advantage of the cooler temps and the chance to push the single jogger and took my little Bean on a run. While running, she looked up at me from the jogger at least a dozen times and asked, "Sissy?" 2. I told you my pictures from the Hobble Creek Half would probably show exactly how I felt. Here's the proof: This was the best smile I could manage when I saw the photographer. 3. I've had some great runs since my Hobble Creek learning experience. I ran an easy three on Monday and another slightly faster three yesterday, both with the single jogger. On Tuesday, I got in some cross training on the bike and some HARD core. While she does miss her sister, I think my Bean enjoys her single jogger runs. This was how she kicked back in her jammies and made the most of it last night. And y

You know how they say the memory of the pain of childbirth fades quickly, otherwise women would never have more than one child? I never really understood that. I loved giving birth to my girls. It wasn't easy and it hurt like a son-of-a-gun, but I loved every minute of it. I am wondering, however, if that same idea might apply in the case of races. If so, maybe I will run the Hobble Creek Half again. Otherwise, I probably won't. I'm sure you can guess that accomplishing my one goal to have fun was a big fat FAIL. All that stuff we read and people say about how much running is a mental sport is TRUE. I had a lousy attitude from the time we sat on the bus seven miles from the start for more than 30 minutes and it became obvious the race would start late again (it began about an hour late last year) . Then I listened to a conversation in the port-a-potty line that added to my grumpiness (more on that in a later post) . Once the race finally started, I spent way too much time b

What did I do today? First I finished charging my Garmin. Then I uploaded a few new songs on iTunes. Next I'll plug in my cute little pink iPod Shuffle, load the new songs and get it charged. Also on my to-do list: pick and set out my clothes, eat my usual dinner, try to get to bed early, and of course pick up my bib. Tomorrow is race day. 13.1 miles. The Hobble Creek Half Marathon. With no time goal and no pressure, I have hardly thought about this race at all. It is sort of a weird feeling. I have thought about it so little, in fact, that I literally forgot about picking up my race packet until I started writing this. With my marathon six weeks from tomorrow, I am running this race strictly as a training run. My only goal is to have fun.

A few weeks ago, I received The Versatile Blogger award from Deanna at Miles to Run . As part of the award, I am supposed to share seven things about myself, so here goes... My shirts are hung up and organized by color. My spices are alphabetized. I want to be cremated. I have strong feelings about this, and I've had several lengthy conversations with friends and relatives about this. I collect clocks. This is a picture of my favorite clock. It was also one of the first in my collection. I 've had a crush on Bruce Willis ever since I saw him in a play at a theater in Sun Valley, Idaho. I love to snow ski and water ski but I haven't done either since having kids. I don't have a middle name. My daughters don't have middle names either. I tried to talk my husband into taking my last name. He didn't, so I considered keeping my maiden name. Now I'm glad I took his last name. I am also supposed to pass the award on to seven other bloggers. The lucky winners are:

First she took pictures while I ran... Then she ran... Then her sister wanted to run but was a little hesitant... But she couldn't resist... And she was very proud of herself when she was finished! RUN: I told The Princess this could be our last double jogger run because they are getting too big and it's getting harder to push them. She told me: "I won't tell my kids it is the last time because I am a good mom to my babies and I am stronger than you." Well okay then.

I read an article about Julia Roberts' weight gain while filming Eat Pray Love . It was an interesting article, other than one little part that bugged me: "Julia, who has maintained her slim physique while juggling a high-profile career and being the mom of three, managed to train for a 13.5-mile half marathon while shooting the film in India last summer." 13.5?? Really?? RUN: Honey Stinger Cherry Blossom Energy Chews are awesome. I haven't been able to stomach any kind of energy chew before, but these are like eating fruit snacks ~ very tasty fruit snacks!

You may have noticed I recently took a break. I came home from Arizona and spent several days feeling utterly overwhelmed by life. When I looked at my life, I felt like I was failing in every way possible - as a mom, professionally, in my running, in managing my home, blogging, you name it. After a few days wallowing in hopelessness, I decided to make some changes. I set some personal goals, typed them up and posted them next to my bed. Then I decided I needed to change the way I think. I will never feel totally successful at the end of the day unless I stop beating myself up about everything. Like missing a run, or getting behind on the laundry, or getting impatient with my daughter when she won't clean her room, or not commenting on every blog I read. I spent time prioritizing my life and reminding myself what is really important. I also realized too many things in my life are things I feel I need to do or should do rather than want to do. Running has become one of those things.