Archive for August 2012

CARA 10K Race Recap

Saturday morning I ran in the CARA-Run For Their Lives 10K. Last year I had intended to attempt the 5K, but then Irene happened and the make up race was on a Sunday. Anyway, I suggested to Karyn that we do this 10k as we train for the half-marathon she talked me into running. We headed over there Saturday morning thinking we had a good idea how the course was going to be. :rofl2:

Even my double chin is smiling

See how we are all smiles before we started? Poor Esther has now been accused of being a photobomber. She and another BCRT runner were in the starting line with Karyn and I. I should have been in the very back with the walkers, but whatever. lol The gun went off and we all took off.

Note that Esther and the lady in the yellow shirt (whose name I cannot recall) are still even with me, and I pointed out Karyn’s shoe and how far ahead she already was. I was not properly prepared for the gun and so I was still starting my music on my iPod. That would be the last I saw of any of those 3 until their final mile. When we headed up into the neighborhood, I realized my folly in not actually driving that part of the route. Hills. Awful hills. When the 5k folks caught up and mingled with us, another Tribe member, Jim, came up behind me as I was groaning uphill and said “Hills are your friend.” I mustered up all of my self-control and didn’t punch him in the ear, and instead just croaked out “NO! They are NOT!” He laughed, told me I was doing great & to keep it up and then virtually disappeared. Ok, he didn’t really run that fast, but he still quickly ran off and left me. I say that like I was alone with a bunch of other runners. haha! I was pretty much following another lady and trying not to let her get too far ahead (especially in the neighborhood). That last neighborhood hill was the one that almost had me puking.

Finally we emerged from the neighborhood maze (and there were enough turns that it felt like a maze), and headed back down to the trail. Now I run the Endor Trail nearly every Tuesday with the BCRT, so I know it like the back of my hand, and it has what several of us have dubbed the worst hill ever in the world. But just one side of the hill, and that was going to be the last big hill before heading back to Kiwanis Park. In my mind I booked it up the Carbonton side. Coming back from Spring Lane was going to be bad, and I knew it because it ALWAYS kills me. But it didn’t. Weird.

Finally, though, I was back in the park headed to the finish line. Click to embiggen because it’s thumbnail size or full for this photo for some reason.

Cue “Gonna Fly Now”

Karyn was waiting on me and snapped that as I was crossing the finish line. This is one of the few times I’m glad it was a rear shot because I know my face was contorted in pain. My chip time was 1:13:12 and gun time 1:13:21 with a pace of 11:50. Not my fastest run, but I am happy with anything under 12. Esther placed 2nd in our age group, and I wasn’t last. 😉 Karyn placed 5th in her age group. It was hard to get around Sunday, especially anything that involved bending my knees with my full weight. It still hurts to walk downstairs today, and I cannot say I am looking forward to tonight’s run.

Back to school

So today is the first day of school for my kids. Who almost forgot about that this morning as she kept hitting her snooze? Yeah, so it was 5:06 when I hit the snooze the last time and before I drifted back off into another 9 min of blissful dreamland, the thought shot through my brain like a second alarm. “First day of school. Get UP!” Because now that they are both in high school, they both have to be up and out the door crazy early which means my entire morning routine has to change. No more fartin’ around until 5:30 to get in the shower. Nope. Shower by 5, kids up by 5:30.

Chad had freshman orientation last week, and I had to drop him off because the buses didn’t run that morning, only for the ride home. I didn’t have a meltdown even though I was dropping my BABY off at high school. But, as I told Molly, it would be a different story when they both got on the bus this morning. Seriously. I didn’t have a meltdown when Jamie started kindergarten because I just dropped her off at daycare like normal and they walked her to school. Now when she started first grade and I watched her get on the bus the first time, yeah, I cried. When Chad first got on that bus to start kindergarten, I cried. Ditto for when each of them started middle school, and when Jamie started high school. But it was when they got on the bus.

Anyway, got Jamie up (Chad was up already), and Chad reminded me I hadn’t filled out the form for the laptop. Handed that to him and he asked about lunch money. 2 checks later, and I’m really glad I didn’t hit the snooze any more. I winced and moaned and half-howled down the stairs (reason here), and proceeded to the kitchen to fix some breakfast. What happened first, though, was that I made a mess. Thankfully, it was only about a tablespoon of quinoa that hit the floor. :sigh: So I was dealing with that when the kids headed out. Good thing they walked out when they did because the bus ran like 2 min later. It was still darkish so I didn’t see them getting on the bus. Therefore, meltdown avoided because I was sweeping up my mess in the kitchen.

So, both my kids are in high school now, or rather I should say both of my BABIES are in high school. You know, because they love it when I refer to them as “my babies.” haha! But seriously, when did this happen?!?! Anyway, I am glad school has started again and that they will have some structure again where they actually sleep at night again.

I’m not spell/grammar checking. Don’t judge me…

A week of homemade

Or 2 weeks because I actually started this post last week and never finished it.

I found that commercial to be ridiculously funny when I was in high school, and I still find it rather amusing.

The week before last, I made my own deodorant after having 3 “natural” brands fail on me. By fail I mean after 6-10 hours they left me smelly as if I hadn’t put on any at all. I made deodorant from a recipe that I linked to here with the “promise” of reviewing it. As you can see I haven’t posted anything since. That’s how I roll.

Anywho, I just used cornstarch, baking soda, and coconut oil (all organic), and I have to say, this stuff ROCKS! I’ve had no irritation, no smelliness after 24 hours, and I don’t even notice that post-run funk I used to have. The hubster even tried it because the last antiperspirant/deodorant he bought irritated him, and he loves it too.

Now being a deodorant only, and not antiperspirant, I still sweat, though not near as much as with the 3 “natural” brands I had tried. So, yeah, if you are prone to sweaty pits, you will still have sweaty pits to some extent. But without the funk, and maybe not as much.

I haven’t cleaned out an old antiperspirant container to put the homemade deodorant in yet and so it is kind of a pain to currently be putting it on as a paste, but I will rectify that with the next batch.

Definitely, definitely I recommend this homemade deodorant! If you try it, and the cornstarch irritates, use arrowroot powder instead.

I embarrass my kids

I was ready to run last night. That’s what got this whole thing started. It was tribe run night, and I changed into my running clothes before I left work because I was going to run. But there was a reason that I posted on Facebook, “Maybe I should lay off the salsa for a while…” Anyway, my digestion is incidental. Chad informed me that he “needed” more lemonade. I needed bananas, so he was in luck. But the conversation at some point turned to being embarrassed to be with me (obviously he is willing to endure it to get what he wants). I chuckled and asked him to elaborate. “You sing.” Now I’m laughing. “You mean out loud in the store, or in general.” He said “In general,” so that means I will be singing a lot more often now. hahaha

But he wasn’t done. Then he started in on my attire which was according to him “Not enough clothes.” As I said before, I was dressed to run. Obnoxiously dressed, but dressed to run nonetheless. Yellow/blue shorts, bright sun-yellow yellow thin tank. According to him, they are short-shorts. To me, short-shorts are a lot closer to Daisy Dukes than what I was wearing. But anyway, I wore that to Food Lion, and he is still going on about my lack of clothes even though I told him they are used to seeing me dressed like that on Tuesday nights. I paid for it though, because I got cold…visibly…

So now I drift from that point, and go off on a tangent. I think that will be my new blogging style – start with a topic and then delve off to something fairly unrelated. Anyway, before we could get out of the house, Chad decided to tell me that I smelled bad…”like Evie’s butt.” That was not nice, and especially not nice considering there’s no telling how long it’s been since he has showered. But I digress. I did a quick smell check, and quickly determined that my deodorant was no longer doing it’s job. This is what happens when you give up the aluminum antiperspirants with artificial fragrance. And I was on the 3rd brand of “natural” deodorant. So that was it. I was going to find a recipe for homemade deodorant.

I just blindly Googled, and one of the top hits was by Crunchy Betty, who just happens to be one of the bloggers I read. I went with her first deodorant recipe because it is crazy easy and I already had all the ingredients (cornstarch, not arrowroot powder, and opted not to add tea tree oil…this time). It smells like food. Now granted, you would have to actually like coconut to want to taste it, but even if you do, let me advise you, it smells WAY better than it tastes. Yes, I have issues.

So today is day 1 using the homemade deodorant, and (if I remember) I will give my review of it in a week or 2.

After a year

It has now been just over a year since Molly forced talked me into joining a running club with her. July 26, 2011 was my first run (the 2nd BCRT run), and I am pretty sure all I did was walk 2 miles instead of running 3. This would be followed by several months of mostly walking the 3 miles, if I did the 3. Here’s how I looked (from behind) in August of last year:

I left Petra in this cropped photo (that I shamelessly stole from BCRT’s FB album which contains several unflattering rear shots of me) because I am like twice as big as her. :-/ I know, I’m freakishly tall. lol 🙂

This is from mid-July after having lost 32 pounds:

This is also shamelessly stolen from BCRT’s Fb album, but I at least know exactly who took this one (being frontal and all). I had already seen Tim snapping around so I was sucking in when Eva walked up and snapped the hubster and I. I’m pretty sure I am still twice as big as Petra. LOL

But that isn’t really what I intended to write about. This past Saturday I had to run 6 miles. (If I hadn’t taken a week off for my knee, it would have been 7.) I barely lasted 5 the weekend before, and was pretty unsure that I would be able to keep myself psyched up. Less than half a mile into it, when I turned the first corner, I smelled breakfast cooking from someone’s house. I assumed it was the house on my left as it is closer to the road and I could see a light on. Anyway, I kept chugging along, and eventually made it to the 3.1 mile mark and noted the time (since I had signed up for a virtual 5K). But by the time I made it up that hill I wanted to quit. Bad. Or maybe that was before the 3 mile mark. I forget. Anyway, on my long runs I have discovered that it is a great time to pray and meditate. Since I do my long runs on Saturday mornings fairly early, there is hardly any traffic, and generally no one outside, so it’s just me & God. No computer to distract me. Music low enough that I can hear traffic. It is perfect for listening.

Lately I have been reading The Pursuit of Holiness by Jerry Bridges, and so I was mulling over what I’d read so far and how to apply it. On the front cover, the latter portion of 1 Corinthians 9:24 is printed “Run in such a way as to get the prize.” So naturally I am thinking about that as I am running…and wanting to quit. So I prayed for the will and endurance to run that morning so that I would have that as a constant metaphor for remembering that the Holy Spirit will help me with strength and will and endurance in tough times of life…resisting temptation, and finishing the race. And I ran a 10k – 6.24 miles.

So, call me a nutroll for believing God gave me the ability to complete that run Saturday. I’ve been called a nutroll for much worse. 😉 But, 2 days later, and I got hit with another “trial” which is really an on-going one that is either active or pending. I got angry…again…and wondered just how much…again…and then I remembered that run. And then I remembered this:

James 1:2-4 (ESV)
2 Count it all joy, my brothers,[a] when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

Followed by this:

1 Corinthians 9:24-27 (ESV)
24 Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. 25 Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. 26 So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. 27 But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.

I am not promised strength for finishing a run, but I am promised strength to endure the trials of life and to overcome temptation. So if God answers my prayer to have the will to run 6 miles, which I am not promised, I can believe he will sustain me through this trial. As one of my friends pointed out to me last night, He has a plan for what is going on even though I can’t see it. And ultimately, God is going to get the glory for it.

Hither, thither, and all that other stuff

I might be back. Or this might be a hodge-podge of crap with promises of more detailed posts later, which may or may not be empty promises.

Cats
About 2 weeks ago, I stopped at the mailbox before pulling into the driveway (as I do), and I noticed something in the neighbor’s driveway. A cat. One of our cats. Simon. The only one of our cats that the boy liked. He had been hit by a car, and the kids retrieved him and buried him though not before my daughter insisted on taking a picture to put on tumblr. :sigh: #parentingfail

3 days later, the hubby decided it was time to kick Spot out of the house, and she ran right into the backyard where the territorial dogs are that kill anything non-dog that gets in their space. She sat in a tree for 2 days, and finally the hubster got her down, and she’s back in the house.

Darci, our oldest dog and habitual escape artist, managed to dig out again, and I found her in the front yard as I let Evie out. I let the hubby know before I left for church, and thought no more of it until I got home. He said to me then, “Have you seen Mittens?” Now, this is kind of a dumb question (I’m thinking) because it’s always 1-5 days following an escape before we see her again. Then he said “Look out the window.” I see a mound of dirty white fur, and was crushed. But he followed my informing me that it was not Mittens, but a ‘possum.

Food & Exercise
I am pretty much back on track with the half marathon training. I did 5 miles weekend before last, 6 Saturday (6.24 specifically…), and that puts me on track for 7 this weekend catching me up to the schedule Karyn and I are following. She is smoking me, by the way. After the half I might work on speed. Might…

So, I had a week-long craving for a bacon cheeseburger last week. Wednesday, I wanted one bad enough to risk a glutening. Petra talked me off that cliff, and I sated that craving with chips & salsa. I know, the chips were bad (they were gluten, msg, & preservative free), but the salsa was YUMMY! So when a less persistent craving hit on Friday, I got some more salsa – chipotle garlic. Yeah, that made “medium” subjective because it BURNED us…and opened up our sinuses. When I went over to James at church that night, he was like “What did you eat?!?!” Karyn’s been eating salsa ever since. lol

Anyway, so Friday night, James made me a cheeseburger. I told him forget about the bacon. I didn’t have any gluten free buns, so I used lettuce instead. Very messy, but enabled me to eat it like a burger. Oh, it was yummy. James made stew Saturday that I wasn’t going to eat, but I had a little anyway, and it was way better with him spicing it than by using the McCormick seasoning (their beef stew seasoning is NOT gluten free – fyi). But yeah, then I got home from church yesterday and he had fried sausage. Now I don’t really even like sausage, but I ate 3 or 4 patties and it was GOOD! And I found a jar of salsa in the fridge… 😉

Needless to say, there was no weight loss this week poundwise. However, I think I am losing inches. My shirt isn’t so tight where the buttons tend to scream (Molly, you know what I’m talking about – lol), and my trousers seem a bit loose.

Wrap up
I am now sick of writing this post and can’t stand to have another post in my drafts queue.

Molly is vlogging every day in August. Check her out on YouTube. Seriously! Her vlogs while driving are seriously out.of.control.

I will write eventually…

Maybe. I just haven’t felt compelled to really focus on anything or to even do a random list post. In fact, I haven’t really been all that into reading other blogs. So, until I can come up with something to write about, here’s a little something for the 2 or 3 people who didn’t see this when I posted it on Facebook.