Following Through

I am horrible about not finishing projects! If you haven't noticed, let me tell you about the fact that I haven't updated my mileage in awhile. I have no idea exactly where I left off but I am going to try to re-total tonight and change it. I love to start projects and never finish them. Last year at work, I made a diary of sorts of what I did everyday at work. I figured once I got through a year, I could then have a calendar that reminded me when things needed to be done. I had this at Judson and it was very helpful. I did very well for about 6 months and then one day, for no particular reason I stopped. Oh, and don't even get me started on scrapbooking!! Mindy's books are done through about 4 years old and she is now 7. Mason's don't even make it to his second birthday. I know there isn't a lot of time when you work full time and have two children but I want to do them so bad but just don't have the energy. I could go on and on about the projects I haven't finished but I won't bore you.

I only have 11 days left until Savannah! I did 8 miles on Sunday even though it was supposed to be 9. Danny and the kids came to bring me the Gu that I forgot and they stayed at the park to play. It started raining on mile 8 so we just packed up and went home. I was very happy with my 8 miler. By the end, I wasn't near as tired as I would normally be and I wasn't near as sore. It makes me feel a lot better about the actual race. Today I have 5 miles to do. I am on a little bit of a time constraint today and I have to be home by 4:45 so it will depend on what time I leave work.

Anyone have any suggestions on food, shopping and fun stuff to do in Savannah??

Lucky Number 13

13 more days until Savannah! I can't wait to get out of town for a few days even if I have to run 13.1 miles while I am there. I have gotten to a point with my training where I am treading lightly. I do not want to injure myself but I still need to go the distance so that I will be ready. Luckily, on the training schedule this is also the point where you begin to taper off a bit. Today is supposed to be a 9 mile day. Was planning on getting up this morning to take care of it but I was woken up 3 times last night by the kids and I couldn't drag myself out of bed at 5:30 this morning. My plan is to go later this afternoon.

me and the kids after the race

Last weekend, I did the Race for the Cure 5K and I had a good time. I couldn't believe how big the race has gotten. From what I understand, there were about 16,000 participants!! It took me 10 minutes to get to the starting line and the crowd didn't thin out until about mile 2 so I was dodging people left and right. This coming Friday, I am doing the Freaky Friday 8K in Tuscaloosa. I have never done this race before but I think it might be fun. The plan is to walk most of this. The race starts at 9pm and I don't want to run the risk of tripping over something and hurting myself a week before the race.

On another note, I am thinking of coming up with a different name for my blog. I am still gonig to keep trying to lose weight but I won't be training for a race for awhile. I want the blog to be more about my day to day stuff like most of my friends do. Any ideas about a name for my blog??

Adding It Up

I was blog stalking today and found a few blogs where runners are posting their total mileage every month. I thought since this was the beginning of October I would go ahead and do that too! It makes me feel good to see just how many miles I actually do in one week. So on the right side of my blog, I have added My Mileage.

I just got a pedometer. Actually, I have had several pedometers in the past but I just never wanted to take the time to figure out how to program them. But, my boss got an extra pedometer so she measured my stride and whatever else you do and programmed my pedometer for me. Yesterday, I had 11,897 steps. Apparently you are supposed to have at least 10,000 a day. I am sure I will be obsessed with this thing for a week or so and then I won't be able to find it again. That's the way it goes right?? I hope I will hang on to it longer but that is not usually how my mind operates.

Today, I have a 3 miler so it isn't a bad day. I have been meeting a friend of mine after school every day to walk. I am her accountability partner. We have been doing this for about two weeks. I asked her yesterday if she thought she had made a habit out of it yet. She said, "Not Really." She says that if it weren't for me then she would not go walk. She would grade papers and watch TV. I don't have any grading in my job but I do LOVE me some TV. However, I would not feel good if I didn't at least get out and walk. I like to feel like I have done something to sweat at least once a day. Sometimes, I get up early in the mornings and go to the gym and then after school I will meet her to walk. Yesterday, I met her at the park. I had to do 4.5 miles yesterday so I ran 1 mile before she got there and then walked 2 miles with her and then finished up my 1.5 miles. I feel good because I have done something and I feel good because I have helped her. It is a win-win situation!

Mindy and Me at Race for the Cure 2005

Yesterday I signed up for the Race for the Cure in Birmingham. This is one of my favorite races because it is a good race and because it is for a good cause. My mother is a 5 year breast cancer survivor so it is something that is very close to me. We have been doing this race for awhile now and I have always enjoyed it. I haven't been able to do this race for the past couple of years because something has always come up (namely my sister's birthday). I will be the only family member doing the race this year. It is a tough time for everyone, me included, and so I will be representing my family, myself. I hope that Danny and the kids will be able to come so that I will have some cheerleaders!

My sisters, my mom and me with Mindy and my nephew Jack

Hopefully I will post pictures after the race (October 15th)! Keep checking my miles and keep me motivated!

Out of Control

Some of you may notice that I changed my weight ticker. I was out of control! I had a horrible binge eating episode where I ate everything in sight and in large quantities. I am definitely on the mend now and I haven't weighed myself since about the 25th of September. I will not weigh myself until my clothes start to fit a little better and I notice a difference. I think I will start noticing a difference in a week or so.

In running news, I did my 7 mile run/walk on Saturday. I got a huge blister on my right heel a few days before when I did my 4.5. Luckily I own some blister band-aids which are magic! I put them on my heels and I don't even feel like I have a blister. While you have them on, the band-aids are working their magic on your heel to advance the healing process. They are wonderful and I highly recommend them! When I finished my miles, I could hardly move. When I got home, there was lots to do because I wanted to decorate for fall so I moved (very slowly) around all day and slowly worked the soreness out. My advice to any new runner/walker is after you have done a long run/walk, NEVER go home and lie on the couch or chill out in your bed. You will regret it later. When I first started doing half marathons, I would get back to my room, shower, eat a snack and go straight to sleep. It is what your mind tells you to do. However, your body will say keep moving. I learned my lesson when I did the Disney Half a few years ago. Since we were in Disney, we wanted to go to the parks. As tired as I was, I went and walked around that day and night. I was exhausted by the time we got back to our room. BUT, the next day I could move much easier.

I have about a month until Savannah and I am getting super excited! Hopefully, I can keep my training up!

Junk

Does anyone else have a "junk room"? Unfortunately I do. This room started out being a guest room. From time to time, things that have no "place" get thrown into this room on the bed. Then there are the things that we plan to give to Goodwill that get put on the floor and then before we know it the room is a disaster area. In anticipation of guests, I usually go in there and spend the whole day pilfering through the mess until finally it is cleaned up. That is what I have done today and I'm still not finished. I decided to take a break and blog. I am not expecting overnight guests anytime soon but there is another reason this room gets cleaned. When fall comes, I pull out all my fall decorations and they are in the closet in this room. I have to clean the room in order to get them out :-). Needless to say, I am exhausted. BUT, I get to start decorating for fall!

I ran three times this week which is better than I have been doing. I would have done even more this weekend but my gym was closed so that new flooring could be installed. When we went to the grocery store after church this morning we tried to keep temptation foods out of the basket and I think we did pretty good. I also haven't had any Little Debbie binges in awhile so that has helped as well. I did catch a glimpse of the orange Halloween Oreos. We all know I have issues with those! I will save buying those for when I really do deserve a treat.

Have a great week!

New Kicks

My New Kicks! Brooks Ghost 4!

I'm feeling more focused these days! Well, it really started yesterday. I finally got back on the road and back to running. My birthday was a few weeks ago and I told Danny that I wanted new running shoes. On Saturday, we headed on down to the Athlete's Foot to get my new shoes. I LOVE BROOKS RUNNING SHOES! These are my all time favorite shoes to run in. My past few pair have been Brooks. I absolutely love my new shoes and can't wait to get some more miles on them.

I was out of pocket for about a week because I did have my "tubes tied". Ultimately it was a really good decision since we can't afford to have any more children but it did keep me off the road for a little over a week. All better now though!

Theresa, me, Kay and Marti

me and Kay with our new tempos!

So my shoes started to get me focused but then I went to eat dinner with my running girls last night and that really got me focused. I love these girls even though they are all WAY faster than me! We have so much fun remembering races we have done over the last 8 years and then getting pumped up for races we are going to do. I had a list of races last night that went into November and we sat and tried to figure out which ones we wanted to do and who could do what race. LOVE EVERY MINUTE! We always have such a good time and I am so glad that they are in my life. Theresa won't be going to Savannah with us so we will miss her!
We were celebrating my birthday and Kay's birthday. Marti got us some new Nike Tempo shorts. I can't wait to try mine out because they have built in compression shorts so my thighs won't chaffe! Who wouldn't be excited about that?? I will let you know how they work out. I am back on the road this afternoon for a "quick" 4 miler! See you on the road!

It's Been Awhile

So it has been awhile since I have posted but things have been crazy around here! First of all, the kids started school. They LOVE it! We are now on a regular schedule and things could not be better with them. Mindy and I were in a wedding. She made a gorgeous flower girl and she was so excited to do it.

We have had a lot of changes around here as well. Mindy has decided she wants to take a year off from everything. She quit gymnastics so there is no dance, no gymnastics, no karate, nothing. Oddly enough, I still feel like there aren't enough hours in the day.

My dieting is not going well at all. My running is not going well it all. Actually it is getting to the point where I should probably rename my blog :-) . There are a few things going on in my life that have caused this. Next week, I am going to have my tubes tied. That might be too much information for some of you but sorry! Danny and I have decided that two is all we want and need. Frankly we can't afford any more children and we are happy with the two we have of course. We have one of each so we aren't wandering what it would be like if we had a girl or had a boy. So since, I am having that surgery next week, I have put my training on hold. The surgery is costing a great deal of money so there is a slight chance that we may cancel our trip to Savannah, hence, there would be no half marathon. Part of me is devastated by this decision because I really would like to do the race and I love Savannah. The other part of me is sort of excited about the fact that I could do whatever I wanted to exercise. I have a friend at work that lives close to me and we are talking about walking together at night in her neighborhood. There is a ZUMBA class at the new gym I am going to and a muscle flex class and a spin class. These are all options I don't have when I am in training. We haven't made any definite decisions yet but I will keep you posted!

We are headed to St. Augustine and Jacksonville tonight for a family reunion weekend! Seafood, here I come!