And So It Begins . . . Again

Hi, my name is Tracey.  I suck.

You see I talked one of my BFF's into running and then just when I was getting somewhere, my little photography business went nuts.  I sold a million cards.  The holidays came.  Basically, I stopped.  Shannon kept going.  Now she is running twice as far as I am and I have gained back almost all of the weight I lost running.

So, I started running again 2 weeks ago.  Then Ben's grandma died. And then my sister came to town. And then someone put me on TV . . . as a plus-sized model.  Aargh. Is this sounding familiar?  This is not where we were supposed to be in March.

So peeps, we're back with a vengeance.  My parents put gym in their basement.  The weather is getting nicer. (By that I mean we might hit 40 today) I need to catch Shannon.  There is a new program starting and as Shannon said, you can participate.  I'll let you know what it is as soon as I "Google Chat" Shannon to hammer out the details.  For now though I will leave you with images of the LACK of my progress.  (I'm the one on the far left)

Ch-ch-ch-changes....

Okay, so change takes time.  We've got time.  But in the meantime....guess what I did Sunday morning?  I went running.  Not my average, "Ugh, I've got to do this just to say I did it..." run but the, "I'm feeling G-O-O-D, let's push it a bit..." sort of run.  And I did push it.  I ran 4 miles.  When I was done sadly absent was any feeling of elation or thrill of completion.  Instead I felt horrible.  My legs were jelly.  I was sick to my stomach.  And I vowed NEVER to do it again.  But that was yesterday morning and I was too close to the situation to recognize the accomplishment as anything more than an unnecessary torture session.  I rolled out of bed this morning (couldn't have jumped out for anything short of an unexpected fire alarm) and instantly felt the results.  Sore tired muscles.  Not to mention that last night I was SOOO tired that I missed watching the US Men take on the Canadian Men in Hockey...and WIN!  I did however see Bode Miller get his gold medal....that's a New Hampshire native for you!  Back to my accomplishment....running 4 miles.  That's a big deal for me.  It has been 6 months since I started this run for insanity.  I've come a long way in 6 months.  I ran 4 miles all at once.  Here's the thing I realized.  I may not be the kind of person who can walk out their door and simply run and run and run.  I am the kind of person that can walk out their door, walk a bit, run a bit, walk a bit...and still manage to do 4 miles.  4 miles is 4 miles, right?  I did it!  I could sit an analyze it and agree that if I had RAN the entire time I would have burned more calories and finished faster, but that wasn't the goal.  The goal was 4 miles.  Done!  Up next:  4.5 miles.....

Soon. I promise.

It is coming.

I promise.

Hopefully tonight when a little monkey goes to bed.

Stay tuned.

Warning: Change is coming

So I am not immune to Face Book and recently there have been a lot of angry or agitated posts about the new design/layout.  (Personally, it doesn't bother me...) With this in mind, I am taking a cue from Face book and posting this now:  We are about to change our blog.  That's right.  Things will be different from here on out.  You see, Tracey and I revisited our commitment (or lack thereof) as of late.  Due to things that are going on in our lives, we do not feel that we will be able to make our goal of running a 1/2 marathon by Labor Day 2010.  What!?!  You ask.  To this we respond: We aren't saying we are NEVER going to do it.  We are saying that we aren't going to do it Labor Day weekend.  In light of this, we have decided to revamp our program.  You're gonna like it.  You're gonna wanna do it to.  And we're going to INVITE you to do it with us.  Tracey will be posting all the new stuff.  Don't be surprised if one of these days in the near future you jump on this site and notice that EVERYTHING has changed, INCLUDING the name!  We're all about embracing change in our lives and being fluid and flexible.  We have to be...we're mom's.  Life happens.  But we're executing control over the things we can....and our person health is one of those things.  So....stay tuned.....see what happens next.  Be prepared.

Apologies

I didn't realize how long it had been since my last post.  Oops!  It's been a while.  Maybe that's 'cause some plans have changed.  Although I am still running, I am not progressing as quickly as I had hoped.  Running more then 3 miles per run right now is turning out to be more of a challenge then I had anticipated.  I just can't seem to do it.  I get bored.  SOOO bored.  I don't find myself pondering or having mini-self-therapy sessions.  Instead I find myself constantly trying to convince myself to keep going.  It's sort of depressing.  So, I admit that I have scaled back my running days.  I'm still running 2-3 days a week, but I've also tossed back in the elliptical, weight lifting AND I've added in "Wii Active".  Variety.  I crave variety and I'm just not getting it with the running. I'm *really* hoping that things will turn around when the weather improves and I will find myself enjoying a beautiful spring run.  But it's too cold to run outside and I'm too bored on the treadmill.  So, I'm switchin' things up for now.  I don't intend to give up.  Just wanted to keep you all up to date.  Do any of you have tips for beating the winter running blahs?  Would be interested in hearing your thoughts.

Mornings

I don't like mornings so it would stand to reason that I don't like running in the morning.  But that's what I did today.  I got up...then woke up my hubby.  While he was in the shower, I dressed the kids, packed their lunches, fed them breakfast and waited for him to come downstairs and be present for the car pool pick-up.  Then I filled my water bottle, grabbed my ipod and headed out into the freezing cold morning air....and quickly decided that TODAY is not an outside running day.  I went to the gym and ran on the treadmill.   It use to be that while I was running I would mentally compose my blog posts.  I was blogging more frequently and had a lot more complaining to do then.  So I spent some time thinking about this blog.  For the 100th time I had to ask myself, "What am I doing?".  It's been a few months now, I'm running 3+ miles every time I go, I feel better about myself, but I still don't LIKE running.  I don't think it is going to be my preferred method of exercise.  So I was thinking: "What kind of person ENJOYS this activity?"  which got me to thinking about all my family and friends who actually l-o-v-e to do this thing.  And you know what? The die-hards I am familiar with all do have some rather similar collective personality traits.  Most of them like mornings.  Most of them are schedule people.  Most of them are organized.  Most of them keep planners/calendars/etc.  They balance their checkbooks right away, not at the end of the week or month.  They know where everything is in their house and only have 1 "junk" drawer (that tends to be rather organized with cubbies or sections for everything).    I'm wondering:  if you are a runner, who LOVES to run, do you share these personality traits?  It's just a theory I'm working on.  I think these personality traits are positive, effective, helpful and wonderful.  There should be at least one person in every family who possesses them....probably.   Are you that person?  Just some treadmill thoughts for today.  

Winter Weather....blah...

Don't you fret or fear, despite the fact that I have been rather absent from the blog this month, you must know that I am still giving it my best to get out there and run.  Things haven't changed in that regard.  I scored some pretty awesome Christmas presents this year.  It seems that a new obsession/hobby developed around the holiday season entitles you to some good swag AND it makes it easy to shop for you.  (So, if you are planning on picking up a new hobby, I suggest starting near a gift giving holiday...you will be rewarded with lots of new shiny items intended to further encourage and develop your obsession.)  Anyway, I got new running clothes and some very cool night gear.  The challenge now however is that I live in New England.  The weather has been fierce the past few weeks.  Which means outside runs are OUT.  I'll have to wait for better weather before I test out my cool new headlamp and flashing arm band...but I promise you I will test them out.  I'm tempted to go over and run on the tread mill with the lights out just to see how cool it will be.  Is it like driving?  I always feel like I am driving faster at night, when in fact I am actually driving slower.  Will it be the same for running? Now don't get tense on me...I'm not talking about a midnight jog through the back woods.  I'm thinking more of the twilight jaunt down very public roads.  The flashing arm band will certainly make sure I am seen, and who isn't going to look at a fool running with a light on their head?  Really?

My sweet hubby wants me safe.  He's a stickler for safety.  His motto, I kid you not, is "Safety First".  Even my 5 year old knows this.

Anyway, back to the running....I'm still doing it.  We spent the Holidays in a rather "internet free" zone.  It was SOOO annoying at times and yet liberating too.  It is surprising to me how reliant I am on the internet for information.  Recipes, weather, communication, blogging, shopping....I do it all on-line.  It wasn't easy for me.  Worse for my husband who scored some new xbox 360 on-line games (yep...my husband is a man-boy) and couldn't play them because he didn't have faster then light internet. Oi!  Nothing more fun then being trapped in a cabin with a technology freak who can't get his fix.  The point is, I didn't blog 'cause I couldn't.  Sad.  But true.   

My sweet partner in crime (aka: Tracey) has been awol for a bit.  Don't worry.  She is in the midst of launching her business, and it's booming.  A quick plug...if you live in the UT, NV area and want some smashing photos taken, she's the one to get in touch with.  I'll let her plug her etsy shop and all that though.  For now...know she's still around.  This week she's takin' pictures at a wedding.  Awe.  Tender.  

Okay...that's gonna be it for now.  Are you proud of me?  We just got home hours ago and here I am...blogging....at 11:45pm.  It's still that important to me.  Oh, almost forgot: hubby got me a new bathroom scale for Christmas.  Some women might not appreciate such a gift....this woman was thrilled.  It's a super cool high-tech one that tells me my body fat AND my hydration level.  Never really thought to check my hydration level.  But now, I can.  Cool.

So...can't say I have even thought about New Year's resolutions yet but you can be certain that there will be some sort of health/fitness type of a commitment in there somewhere.  Did YOU make one too?  I bet you did.  Care to share?  I will if you will....let's face it...I probably will anyway. 

Hope you all enjoyed your Holiday Season.  Happy New Year.