Exhausting...

I'm not sure what was more exhausting, my 9 minute/mile pace on my 4.48 mile run or taking Sully with me to our Lenten Service tonight.

The run started good but was hard the whole way. Some runs do that. Some runs just feel great for no reason...I like those. My legs felt pretty good the entire run, I was just tired and lacking energy. To make matters worse I had 3 garbage trucks pass me while running. Do you know how hard it is to hold your breath while running? Its hard...but better than smelling the stench of the garbage trucks. I think I'll take tomorrow off from running, perhaps lift some weights, and then hit the road again on Friday. There's a 5K in town on Saturday that I'd like to do and then I need to get another long run in on Sunday. Craig will be out of town so I'm already dreading this long run. Long runs can get very lonely when you know you're out there all by yourself. Craig and I don't run at the same pace but it is still very nice to know he's there...way behind me ;) (Love you babe)

So its Wednesday and that means church. I had been looking forward to it all week. I've noticed such a dramatic difference in the way I feel since my talk with Pastor last Saturday. I'm really excited to keep up my worship and learning in order to make positive changes in my life and attitude. We were all going to go but plans changed a bit. Craig reminded me how rambunctious the kids are in the evening and questioned how well they would behave. I decided that I still wanted to go and would take Sully with me. He knows how to behave the best and can usually entertain himself for the most part...tonight was not the most part.

Although he wasn't overly loud or disruptive I was still not able to pay attention. He kept asking me for this, that, or something else. He wanted to know what the black cloth was on the cross (if someone knows please tell me). He wanted to know why the organist was playing the piano instead of the organ. He wanted to know what the stained-glass windows around the ceiling were. If it was there, he was asking about it. He did perk up when the speaker mention Issiah. Sully has a classmate named Issiah and of course thought they were talking about him!

Then on the way home we talked about why it was important for us to go to church...that we go there to learn about God and Jesus. Sully wanted to know who they were so I did my best to explain. We talked about God creating EVERYTHING and Jesus being God's son. Sully wanted to know where they were and I said Heaven and explained that Heaven was way up in the sky with the stars. Then he wanted to know why Jesus was way up there and how he got down. I said it was so Jesus could watch over us all and bless us and heal us and that it was like magic and he would just appear. Then he wanted to know where Jesus' bed was, I assume in Heaven, right? Well that's the story Sully got.

It is hard enough to learn and absorb all of this as I go, but to have to explain it in terms that a 4 year old can understand is quite challenging. It is good though, he'll learn as much as I can teach him and know the importance of knowing the Lord.

Church Every Sunday

“Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.” Prov 22:6

This is exactly why I am going to make my family attend church EVERY SUNDAY (pending natural disasters, projectile vomiting, etc). Simply being tired, crabby, wild, crazy, or lazy are not valid reasons for absence.

Purging=Peace

Today has been a day of purging. I've not only gotten rid of a couple of obligations that I didn't HAVE to have but it felt so great that I even defriended some peeps on Facebook and unliked a bunch of pages that did nothing but clog up my Facebook home page. I am at peace, for the time being. I have maintained my positive attitude through out the day and it feels great. Simply purging junk makes one feel fantastic...its like "Spring Cleaning" for the soul.

I forgot to mention in my post yesterday that the hubs and I got our long run in. Our half marathon is 2 weeks away. We hit the road for 10.34 miles (me) and 9.5 miles (hubs). After mile 6 I felt awesome...miles 9 through 10+ were a different story. I had it the wall all of a sudden and was regretting the fact that I had gone so far. To make matters worse, I thought Craig had followed me down a side road. I pushed on and pushed on, all the while wanting to give up. I kept going though because I knew when it was time to turn back I would get to run past Craiger's shining face...

HE LEFT ME! I had pushed and pushed only to realize that he didn't follow me and instead headed for home. Talk about a feeling of abandonment. I was needing to know that he was there with me. Oh well! It made me stronger as I persevered and eventually made it home. Boy was I glad to be home. Needless to say I took today off. I'm not sure if I will run tomorrow or wait til Wednesday. There is a very fine line between training and being ready for my half and pushing it too hard causing my Achilles tendon to act up. My plan is to take it easy the rest of the week and get another long run in on Sunday...after church of course.

After (and during) my long run yesterday I was really able to see just how running can clear your head. It isn't like I get stressed and think, "man, I just need to go for a run," but I do feel better when its done. I was able to just let my mind roam and think of lots of different things. I'm not solving any problems, just letting my mind wander...and it feels great.

I'm still listening to The Bible on my iTunes audiobook. I'm not going to lie, there are definitely times that I find myself spacing out and not paying attention. Especially during the genealogy junk. Do I really NEED to know who belongs to who that belongs to who that belongs to who and so on and on and on! Even Pastor told me that he skipped that part ;) But, overall I think it is keeping my head in the game and focus on my faith and positive attitude. It is making a better wife, a better mother, a better friend, a better Christian and a better person.

I am happy!

Come to Jesus

For those of you, the very few I know, who have been following my blog over the last couple of years that I've had it you will notice another change of purpose. My blog has gone from a blog about my life to a blog about working out and back to a blog about my life. While I will still discuss my workouts I will mainly be telling you all about my life...each and every aspect of it. It will serve the purpose of allowing me to vent my frustrations while keeping me on task with the changes in my life and hopefully even inspiring a few of you.

What a wonderful week I have had. There were ups and downs, stress and relaxation, smiles and tears. I have really begun to find myself and prioritize the different facets of my life.

Being the busy-body that I am I have always put many things on my plate at a time. It wasn't until recently that I truly realized why I did this. I have been unhappy. Even though I have a terrific husband and 3 wonderful children, all of whom love and adore me, I was unhappy. I was stressed, carried everything with me and eventually brought it all home with me every night. Then, I was nice enough to spread the wealth of my unhappiness among everyone in my house...every single night. I could bring down the joy of my house within moments of walking through the door. Instantly we would all be tired, grouchy and miserable. Not.Any.More!

I had a "Come to Jesus" epiphany...it just hit me all of a sudden. All the things I had been doing to make myself a more positive and happy person weren't working. I needed faith. I texted my husband that I thought I needed to schedule a time to talk with our Pastor one-on-one. He thought that sounded like a good idea. I got on our church's new website and while snooping around found this message from Pastor.

Christians know that we are not to fall into the trap of Martha. Martha worked hard but found no peace. She toiled but didn't grow closer to her faith. She filled her life with busy work but not with the one thing that she needed - God's Word. Christians today often get caught by the trap of searching for life-meaning in the things of this world, careers, families, hobbies, accomplishments. Many of these things are 'good' things to invest in. But they are not the one thing that is needed. They only leave a person empty and fatigued.

This is the story of my life...I couldn't believe how spot-on this message was! You may call me Martha!

Wow! This message was just the slap in the face that I needed. It confirmed that I NEEDED to talk with Pastor. I NEEDED to get on the right track with my life. I NEEDED to get my crap together and start enjoying my life. I emailed Pastor and voiced my concerns about:

~Stress and dealing with it
~My endless negativism
~My lack of understanding my faith
~Where do I begin, how do I get my crap in order?

I met with Pastor, shed some tears and now know what I need to do. I am clearing my plate of obligations. These obligations that I thought or hoped would bring me joy were only causing more stress. Pastor explained that although all the extras I was trying to manage were good things and helping others, I wasn't necessarily living my life the way God wanted. God wants us to rest and life in joy, and I wasn't. Although we rest and enjoy our weekends, man we love our weekends, I need more rest. My goal is to find a time during the week that I can rest. It is the week that stresses me. It is the hustle and bustle of work, school (kids not mine), house, bills, etc. that brings me down into my funk. By resting during the week I can survive until the weekend and enjoy my next period of rest.

My discussion also allowed me to fully realize God's purpose for my life, and although I can't drop everything to do it to the full extent right now perhaps someday I will. Until then I will attempt to be the best manager of the few obligations I have. I will also learn to leave "it" at the door and pray for guidance and strength. Also, I found an audiobook of The Bible on iTunes for only $10. This will be the first part of the education and understanding of my faith.

I am now able to feel empowered, relaxed, and enlightened. I know this is going to allow me to be the better wife and mom that I mentioned in my "Resolution" post. I am so excited!

What is wrong with me...

Last night I washed my iPod in the washing machine.

Today I, once again, forgot my sports bra...just like yesterday.

When we arrived at the TCC to workout the room was already taken.

Some days I just want to give up.

Where to begin...

I feel as though I should start by saying a big THANK YOU to the following, for the following:

1. Spirit of the Marathon for inspiring me to push myself. For making me realize that I have the ability to run 26.2 miles without dying...the older, more out of shape runners in this movie did it...so-can-I!

2. Boss's boss, without you my boobs would have jiggled all over the place throughout my run today and I would have likely given up and shortened my distance. Your t-shirt and sports bra are in the washer as I type.

3. Creepy Guy #1 who stared/gawked at me while your pulled your car into Napoli's...you put a little pep in my step as I sped up to make sure you weren't going to turn around and follow me like the creeper you are.

4. Creepy Guy #2 who pointed at me as you drove past in your little teal beat up POS car, like you knew me and were surprised to see me...you don't know me so please just keep your eyes on the road and hands on the steering wheel. You also made me speed up ever so slightly, almost as though I thought I would be able to out-run your car if you decided to follow me...then again, by the looks of your car, I might just have been able to.

5. Steep hills and wind in my face for making me that much stronger...YOU SUCKED, by the way! I'm pretty sure I will hate you even more tomorrow when I struggle to walk.

6. Coworkers, you asking me how my run went allows me to talk about it and hopefully inspire you to take up running...and in turn, that inspires me to keep it up.

THANK YOU, each and every one of you

Today was my 6 mile run. After watching "Spirit of the Marathon" last night I was stoked to get my run on today. I mapped it out at www.mapmyrun.com and had a game plan. I was to run 6 miles and knew I could do it in about an hour. I'm fortunate that my place of work gives me an extra 30 mins of workout time 3 days a week (as schedules allow). I would use my extra 30 mins, for warming up, stretching, and getting cleaned up to go back to work, and I would dominate 6 miles. I was worried that it was cold enough that I would be too cold and miserable to finish, since I knew I hadn't packed a long sleeve tshirt to go under my jacket...little did I know that I also hadn't packed even a short sleeve tshirt or my SPORTS BRA!!! (See thank you #2 above) Luckily it all worked out and I hit the road.

I felt good, as though I wouldn't freeze to death, but the wind was not nice. Thanks to the wind my hair started to fuzz up and the short fly aways were wrecking havoc on my face. I would have killed for just one extra bobby-pin. I would not have hesitated to pick one up off the ground and shove it into my hair without even the thought of where it came from...if only I had seen one. Thank goodness I turned and the wind changed and was blowing me right in the face. That was a blessing...to have the 36 degree wind blowing me right in the face as I ran up steep hills...wow, that was great! (typed with great sarcasm) At least it fixed the problem of the rebellious fly aways. I don't care what I look like when I run, as long as hair isn't blowing up into my face, tickling my nose and cheeks, and scratching my eyes...talk about suckage.

I struggled through my 6 miles, stopping only twice for about 20 seconds each to stretch my tightening muscles (watch was stopped each time). It is always such a wonderful sense of accomplishment to not only get your workout done, but to finish a grueling run. As soon as you stop it is almost as if you get an adrenaline rush. I felt like nothing could go wrong the rest of the day. I felt like I had just conquered something grand. I had! I had run the 6 miles that I had planned the night before and I had done it 6 minutes faster than I expected! As soon I as got back to the office I remapped my run just to make sure it was in fact 6 miles...

5.85! What kind of crap is that? If I had known I was coming up short I would have made a lap around the parking lot. I would have run up and down the sidewalk as many times as it would take to add that measly .15? WHAT.A.CROCK! Oh well, life goes on. I ran 5.85 miles in 54:30 and I am still very pleased. I've always thought I will always run a 10 minute mile...today I ran a 9:20 mile, and for that, I am happy!

Now, fast forward 6+ hours...I AM SORE! My P90X Legs and Back workout yesterday made my legs just sore enough today to keep me wanting more. Right now, I do not want any more. My legs are so sore I can barely climb the stairs. My butt is so sore I can barely sit down. My dear husband tried to help me stretch after supper and it hurt so badly that our 4 yr old son thought Dad was hurting me. I was squealing and grabbing muscles all over the place. I can't wait to see how I feel tomorrow!!! (again with great sarcasm)

What a run...

I have such great intentions each weekend to get in some long runs, do a couple of P90X dvds, or anything else that might cross my mind...but nothing ever gets done. I'm a weekend bum. I enjoy going with the flow, taking naps and being lazy in general. Although, I have to tell you that I ate a salad for lunch on Saturday (at a restaurant, no less) and a salad for lunch on Sunday too. I'm pretty proud of myself. I've maintained my salads for lunch throughout the week too, and although they still don't taste good, I'm surviving and feeling better overall.

The hubs, both girls and I headed to Columbia on Saturday with the hopes of finding some golf clubs for the hubs and a swimsuit for my tri (details can be found here). Pretty much, we drove all the way to Columbia (with gas prices at $3.34/gallon) for lunch and a hat and tshirt for each girl. The trip was a bust, except I was able to try on some suits and know what size to order online...where I saved a lot of money. The suit should arrive this week and I can't wait to try it on...hope it fits and lasts long enough for me to wear it on April 30th. I just may take it with me to Michigan next week (I'm traveling for work) and get in a couple of laps in the hotel pools. A lap in the hotel pool will be a nice ease into swimming from the NO SWIMMING I've done. The extent of my swimming abilities end at knowing how to not drown. This race will be interesting.

Oh, and I'm down to 4 weeks til my half marathon...hence the title of the blog. I hit the road running today and it felt great. It was just one of those runs that surprising left great the whole way through...and those runs don't happen all that often. I ran 4.4 miles in 41 minutes, on my lunch break! Tomorrow will be a P90X day with Andrlynn at the TCC and then Wednesday will be another run day. I just pray the weather cooperates with me because I despise running on treadmills. I can't stay motivated on them and usually end up calling it quits due to boredom.

Here's to sunshiny warm weather, good health and happiness!

Welcome March

Monday started with the treadmill and Tuesday Andrlynn and I "brought it" to P90X Chest and Back. I was sure my body was revolting against my workout...as soon as I went back to work from my lunch break (workout) I was fatigued. As the day went on my body started to ache. By 6:00pm I was sure I had the flu...body aches and tingles and no energy at all. I self medicated and hit the sack at 7:45pm. I was able to sleep all night and not feel better Wednesday morning. I made it to work but left at 1pm to hopefully sleep off the rest of what ever I had. The nap didn't quite go as planned due to Paislee yelling "Benny! Benny! Benny!" (from Dora) from her bed during naptime. I slept off and on until 5:30pm, ate a little supper and then went back to bed at 7:45pm again. Today, Thursday, I am back to myself...and very happy about it.

I have to say that a day and a half of not eating does a lot for a bloated belly of crap. I was feeling quite slim and trim this am! So Andrlynn and I hit the TCC again today for P90X...but our room was taken. I decided I would go ahead and run outdoors today...it was beautiful outside!

Apparently it took me forever to run 3.1 miles because by the time I got back to the TCC to change and go back to work it was a lot later than I thought. My 3.1 miles was rough. I hadn't mentally prepared for running and didn't even stretch before hand. Here's hoping I can walk tomorrow. Tomorrow we will hit P90X again!

Oh, and by the way, I want you to know that on Monday I weighed 156lbs. With better eating habits, a day and half of not eating, and almost daily exercise we'll see what next Monday brings...hopefully less than this Monday!