Sweaty Hugs

I like my personal space. I don't like it when someone I don't know sits in the chair right next to me at church. I don't like when someone stands too close to me in line. And since my kids are an extension of me, I didn't like it when strangers would touch my babies. And I still don't like it when kids I don't know touch my girls when we are at the park, at school, etc. And when someone I don't know very well asked me if I wanted to hold her baby the other day, I didn't want to be rude so I held that baby. But I didn't want to.

I'm just not a touchy-feely in-your-space kind of gal.

So I'm sure you could guess I'm not a big hugger. I rarely hug people the first time I meet them. I even have relatives I am not entirely comfortable hugging.

I started thinking about this when I was looking through the pictures on my computer this morning and saw these:




When it comes to the runnerd in me, I am all about hugging. It's funny how running can bring you together. Whether it's snuggling together for a photo in front of the port-a-potties before a marathon or sweaty hugs and group photos after a half marathon, I never hesitate to get or give a hug. At first I tried to blame it on the runner's high dulling my personal space senses, but the port-a-potty photo BEFORE the race is proof against that theory.

The truth is there is something about running that connects us. Running isn't just something we do to burn calories or stay fit. For RUNNERS, there is emotion connected to running. And it is that emotion that comes out when I feel that urge to hug a runner I know - or sometimes even just recognize from the bloggy world. So if you ever see me at a race, you better watch out. There might be a sweaty hug coming your way.

Have you hugged a runner lately?

It's Not Christmas Anymore

So I've been doing a Get Fit Challenge for the past few weeks. It is a 12-week challenge, and we are just beginning week four. I am part of a team, and the team with the most points at the end of the challenge wins. It has been a lot of fun to be part of something like this, especially since I am ordinarily such a do-it-by-myself type of person. And it has been a great motivator to run, work out and eat better. Here is what we get points for each day (with one free day each week):

• 5 Fruits and Veggies each day


• No eating after 9pm


• No sweets (ice cream, brownies, cupcakes, candy, etc.)


• Drink 48 oz. of water


• Minimum 30 mins. exercise


• Contact with team member

We also get points for losing weight or maintaining and lose points for gaining weight. And each week we have a "challenge" to earn extra points. This week's challenge is to add a new workout to our routine, set a goal, share it with our team and accomplish it. My challenge goal is to try two new P90X workouts this week and do planks every day.

Last week's challenge was giving up soda, and the week before we had to keep a food journal. The food journal was hard at first, but now I love knowing how much I am eating and burning. I just wish the daily updates on how much I would weigh in five weeks based on my daily totals would start happening. Somehow, in spite of some serious calorie cutbacks last week, I only managed to maintain my weight. I am going to ramp up the workouts this week and see what happens. If I still don't lose some weight, I'm not sure what else to do. I can't drop my calories too much more without starving.

So, with more workouts on the horizon, there is a good chance I will continue to look like this most of the time:

My Bean took that on the way to pick up The Princess from school. Pictures like this are starting to fill up the photo gallery on my phone. Whenever Bean is playing games on my phone, I inevitably hear: "Mom, say 'It's not Christmas anymore.'" (Our go-to phrase instead of Say "Cheese!" during the holidays was Say "It's Christmas!" Apparently this is what she thinks it should be now that Christmas is over.)

Crappy Days

Sometimes we just have crappy days. Yesterday was one of those days. There wasn't one specific thing thing that made it rotten. It was a bunch of little things that slowly sucked the life out of the day and out of me. Yet I KNOW I have everything to be grateful for and every reason to be happy. But I woke up with my crappy mood still hanging around, so I decided it is time to sit down and focus on some of the things that make me smile:

• Hearing my Bean sing The Healing Incantation from Tangled while she plays with her sister's Rapunzel tower and doll.



• The fact that my Bean takes advantage of every minute her sister is at school to play with her sister's stuff.


• Having an amazing run on Wednesday after being sick on Tuesday.


• Snuggling under the heated throw I got for Christmas.


• Getting perfect surprises, like a heated throw, from the hubs for Christmas. Always things I never know I wanted SO much!


• Neighbors who have become some of our best friends.


• A husband who picks up all the slack (and more).


• Overhearing The Princess tell her little sister, "That's what big sisters are for" (when cleaning up something The Bean spilled).



• Sleeping in two days in a row. During the week.


• Realizing I'll have both girls home all day on Monday. I miss my girls when they are at school!


• Clean sheets.


• Clean running clothes.


• Friends who are also runners. And runners who have become some of my best friends.

Happy Friday!

Dry Heaves

Don't you just love that? Sadly, I relate all too well. Maybe that's a good thing though. I'll just keep telling myself that.

Before I started typing, I realized I'd been staring at my computer screen for several minutes. I have a headache that is making it difficult to think and focus. As you can imagine, I'm getting tons of quality work finished. Luckily blogging is easier than editing. However, I can now call this a Web site rather than just a blog, because I bought my domain name. So now if you go to ihaverun.com, this little old blog/site is what you'll find. Don't worry. If you don't feel like changing your Reader, you'll still end up here if you use the ihaverun.blogspot.com address. It just makes things easier for everyone. And easy is good.

Something that hasn't been easy has been changing my mindset when I'm running lately. I've been running by time rather than distance. It has been a fun but challenging change. I had no idea it would be so hard to run 40 minutes and end up with 4.17 miles. There is just something about ending with anything but a .00, .25 or .75. But I'm working on getting over it. It has been fun to be surprised at the end of every run and to see how my perception of how fast and how far I am running matches (or doesn't match at all) the reality.

I have also started doing more cross training recently. Last week I only ran four times but worked out six. After spending at least a month each of the past two years injured, I am trying hard to stay strong, fit and healthy in 2012.

What are your goals for 2012?

Things I Love Thursday - A Picture Really Is Worth a Thousand Words

Is it really 2012? How did that happen?

Somehow Christmas and New Years flew by. But not without some priceless moments. Including these:

Since I last blogged, there was some running. And as much as I resist admitting it ... some of my best runs were in sunny Arizona. Outside. (Shhh, don't tell Millie.)

Now I'm back to Millie. And Millie got a makeover. Of sorts. She is now in the toy room so we could expand my home office. It made more sense to combine the toy room and workout room than to try working in the toy room. So Millie isn't in the master bedroom anymore and my home office is.

Working has been tricky. Hopefully things will kind of fall into some sort of routine now that the holidays are behind us. Starting a new job two weeks before Christmas was interesting. But it is going well, and I am enjoying it. But fitting 40 hours of work into the rest of my life will continue to take some juggling. Needless to say, I am getting better and better at multi-tasking!

Also needless to say, my girls always come first. Seriously, how could they not?

And they don't get much cuter than when they were posing for an impromptu photo shoot to show off their Christmas dresses:

Jumping for joy!

Their "models" poses



Sisters

Speaks for itself...