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Butterflies in my Tummy!!

Something rare happened at work today..I finished up early and thought, “If I leave now, I could get a run in!!”  I instantly got butterflies in my tummy as I quickly grabbed all my stuff and headed towards the door!!!

I was home in no time flat…you know, because my commute is super short now.  I dressed, loaded up my water belt and out the door I went.  It’s a cool 85* here in Phoenix, gorgeous, bearable running weather!!

For today’s run, I laced up my old Pearl iZumi’s and my feet felt like they were home.  You know what I mean??  They felt great on my feet, like they were made for me!

Didn’t take long to get lost in my thoughts…

  • Shoes feel good, but I can definitely feel where my big toes have made indents in the shoes.
  • Walking pace is a lot faster than it was a week ago..feelin’ good.  Muscles in my left leg definitely feel less tense.
  • I bet people on the east coast would consider 85* too warm to run in and here I am, thinking this is perfect!
  • Running pace is definitely faster, but there’s that pain again.
  • The half marathon is 2 weeks from Sunday..I don’t see that I’m going to get in a long run before then.  Maybe a 10 mile walk on Sunday to prepare?
  • A 10 mile walk, are you insane??   I’d rather run and suffer than walk…
  • Okay…maybe no rehearsal run for this race and just go prepared to walk the course..
  • Interesting, when I try to focus on my form, the pain is noticeable.  When I just lose myself in the run, I don’t feel as much pain.  Wonder what that’s about?!
  • Maybe I should do some Pilates tomorrow and give my legs a nice good stretch.

I ran/walked 2.13 miles in 27:01 minutes, a 12:41 pace.  Last Wednesday, I did 1.79 miles in about 28 minutes, a 15:31 pace.  As you can see, there is vast improvement from last week!

All in all, I’d sum up the run as this!

There’s improvement and for that I am happy…but the pain is still there.  So the run gets an “eh” ranking!

After the run I immediately stretched and it really seemed to release the tension I was feeling in my left leg.   As I write this post, I am following Yo Momma‘s tips to ice my foot!

I don’t know what to make of this mysterious injury I have but I can no longer sit and do nothing.

Do you get excited to go for a run?

Any fun plans for the weekend?

Have you ever done a half marathon you weren’t prepared for?

 

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Woo hoo…witchy woman!!

A couple of weeks ago, my boss gave all of us witch hats with instructions to decorate them and bring them back in to the office for some Halloween spirit.

The hats  were due back in the office on 10/15 but since I was out of town all weekend, I didn’t have time to work on my hat until tonight.

Warning: I am not crafty.  I have never been huge on Halloween.  I don’t like scary things.  That said…here is my hat!

K made the bow for me!

I stuffed the pointy part of the hat with newspaper and K cut out a cardboard piece to secure the paper in the hat.  We stapled the hat to the cardboard and covered the staples with the flowers.  He’s far more talented than I am when it comes to this crafty stuff.

Witch hat meets FLOWER POWER!!!  As you know, I’m pretty new to this office and as I finished my hat, K said, “Company, meet Jac!”  He thinks this hat definitely reflects my personality…minus the “witch” part, of course!

Is it me or does this hat make you want to eat Lucky Charms??

On to running related matters… My alarm sounded this morning for my run and I…chickened out.  My leg is feeling so good and I’m so scared to test those waters and have the pain come back. I felt so guilty for wussing out so all day today I would power walk when I was up and about and see how my leg held up.  First off, I was actually able to power walk and that hasn’t been something I’ve been able to do since…August.  So that made me feel a bit better.

I’ll be honest with you, I’m really having a hard time getting myself motivated.  I am scared to feel that pain again.  I have a really hard time getting up early for runs (unless it’s a race day and then I have no problem getting up early)!!  I’m struggling.  And then I read all my favorite bloggers and how bad ass they are and then I just feel guilty.   **Insert music from world’s tiniest violin here!!**

*Heavy sigh*  It was about 68* on my extremely short drive in to work this morning and I counted at least 10 runners out on the road.  That just made me feel even guiltier for not getting up and running.  After all, that should be me out there!

Any words of advice to get my @$$ up and out the door for an early morning run?

Does your work get in to the Halloween spirit? 

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D’s Surprise Revealed!!

K and I picked D up early on Friday from day care with a surprise for her birthday!

Happy Birthday (on Monday), D!  We’re going to Disneyland..jump in the car!

Yeah…we’re nuts.  Arrived in Anaheim really late Friday night and left town super early this (Sunday) morning!  We determined we were in Anaheim less than 36 hours…fastest trip EVER!!!!

Naturally, D was very excited with the surprise.  Here are some of the highlights of our whirlwind visit!

Always happy on the tram going to the park!

Big Nightmare fan!

Has the ink..and shirt..to prove it!

D asked to ride in the front row, wish granted.  From then on out, she seemed to score front row seats (without asking)!

Amazing character interaction with Cruella.  This moment was a lot of fun!

Big fans of the Nightmare Before Christmas overlay in the Haunted Mansion!

Originally, D wanted to go horseback riding for her birthday.  Those plans didn’t pan out so this was the alternative..

Our most favorite castle in the world!

The park was SUPER busy and I can’t recall the last time we visited on a Saturday.  Sadly, we encountered a few times where we’d get to the front of the line and the ride would break down.  We’d then have to get out of line – TRUE STORY!!  It was a bit frustrating but what can you do??

What could make this weekend any more perfect for D?

Why…a stop to put her feet in the surf, of course!  Honestly, D would stand with her feet in the surf all day long if we’d let her.

This trip included throwing rocks in to the surf…

Of course, I’m all kinds of curious as to where these random black rocks come from.  The beach we visited wasn’t “rocky” and these rocks seemed completely random to me.  But D sure had a lot of fun hunting them down and then throwing them out in to the surf!

She also got a kick out of using the telescope!

I can neither confirm or deny if she used them to check out the surfers! Ha!

Sadly, we weren’t able to stay at the beach for long and after an hour and a delicious fish taco..we were back on the road making our way home to Phoenix!

In running related news…My leg managed to hold up really well during the trip.  In the beginning of the day at Disneyland, I noticed it was sore and sometimes I would get off a ride and bear all my weight on the left leg and I would feel a twinge.  But as the day went on..I noticed the pain disappeared.  Is it possible I walked out my pain?  It wouldn’t be the first time this has happened to me.  Last year when I went to visit my sister in Boston, one of my legs was hurting but then after a long weekend of doing a ton of walking..the pain was all gone and never returned.

Do I dare to dream this has happened again?!?

Needless to say…or I should say…a run is on the schedule for Wednesday. I plan to wear my old running shoes (not the ones I despise but the ones before that) and see if the new shoes may be contributing the issue.  I’m excited to find out!

What is your favorite childhood birthday memory?

What’s the last weekend trip you went on?

Have you decided what you’re going to be for Halloween yet?

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What’s better than racing with friends?

What’s better than racing with friends?  Honestly, I can’t think of anything.  But M thought running a race that ends in eating chocolate sounded divine!!   I had to hold off on registering since we heard about it shortly before I lost my job.

But today..that all changed.  I am officially registered to run the Hot Chocolate 15K

M shared coupon code: PHXMOM2012HC to save 10%, basically the service fee for registration!  So if you live in Phoenix, wanted to sign up for the race but were holding out for a coupon code – get yourselves registered!

I need to do some research but I might register D to run the 5K all by herself!   Having run other 5K’s, I’ve seen plenty of kids along the route running alone…so..someone out there does it!

Speaking of D…we are moments away from the big surprise reveal.  I am so excited!!!!  I’ll be back later to share the big news with you.  Until then…have a great weekend!

It just occurred to me…I’m sitting here on the injured list..haven’t run more than once per week for a few weeks…and I just registered for a 15K.  I think this makes me officially nuts!

Have you run the Hot Chocolate race?

What do you run for: beer, chocolate, cheeseburgers, etc?

Would you let your 9 year old run a 5K all by themselves?

 

 

 

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Crocs, FroYo, Clouds…and a Surprise!!! Oh My!

See this..

It contains a surprise message for D!  She won’t get to read it until tomorrow afternoon.  But all week K and I have been plotting and planning to pull off this birthday surprise!  She turns 9 on Monday!

In recent months, I would wait until the very last minute to get things in order for whatever event may be occurring.   But not this time.  I’ve been working all week to prepare.  I took D to get new shoes last night – they are needed for the “surprise”!

I have never seen Crocs like these and D loves them!!!   She says they’re very comfortable.

While we were out, we were less than 25 feet from Yogurtland and I told K and D that I would have my blogger rights revoked if we didn’t stop!  We each got a very little bit, it was probably the cheapest trip to Yogurtland….ever!!

I worked 10 hours today, another plot to get stuff done at work so I can leave at my intended time tomorrow to pull off the “surprise” for D!

After work, I had to swing by the grocery store to pick up some necessities for the SUPER surprise!  Check out this view!

That’s a street light and clouds rising up behind it.  I thought it was wicked cool and as I stopped to snap a photo of it, I noticed other shoppers around me taking a moment to admire the beauty!!  It was like 85* here in Phoenix today..it finally felt like fall with the weather and clouds.  RELIEF!!!

I’m not going to run tomorrow.  I’m not going to run again until next Wednesday. I swear the injury is actually in my foot and just radiating to other areas of my leg.  You know how when you go to the dentist and point out pain on one side of your mouth but the problem is actually from another side??  Yeah..I think that’s what’s happening here.

That’s my theory…I could be wrong…but I’m starting to believe I’m not!

In other non-running, non-surprise, completely random news…K and I are finishing up the final season of Weeds.  Can’t wait to see how this all ends!

Have you ever planned a big surprise for someone?

Do you wear Crocs?

What’s your favorite froyo place?

Do/did you watch Weeds?

 

 

 

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It’s Early…I’m Up..and other Random Thoughts..

Changing things up and went for a morning run this Wednesday since I’m normally wiped out by the time I leave work. I don’t like running in the dark but…you do what you gotta do..with caution, of course!!

Some random thoughts during today’s run:

  • I wonder what that flashing orange light is up there?  I could go that way and find out.  Um…hello?!?  It’s probably to attract you that way so the boogie man can get you!  Ignore the orange flashing light!!!
  • Aww…all these people in their cars on the road at 5ish in the morning..that use to be me!
  • Ha! I use to be jealous of the runners out on mornings like this…now I’m the runner out on a morning like this!
  • Speaking of “mornings like this”– the weather is fabulous!!!
  • WTH, leg???  You’ve felt fine all week and now you’re gonna act like we’re at the very beginning of this injury???  Why do you hate me??
  • If my leg would cooperate, I could go a whole lot faster. It is horrible to not take advantage of this lovely weather and run faster!!
  • Okay, so I have a half marathon in 4’ish weeks…I guess I’m about to find out what it’s like to walk 13.1 miles!!!!
  • Is this injury ever going to heal??
  • Maybe I should just quit running for good.
  • Maybe I should get a second opinion about this injury in my leg?
  • Maybe I should stretch more religiously and perhaps ice the foot?!
  • Why is the body so complicated?
  • Why isn’t this run over already?
  • K is going to KILL me if I get hurt today and jeopardize our plans this weekend.
  • Maybe a run on Friday isn’t a good idea?!

I ran/walked 1.79 miles in 27:48 minutes, a 15:31 pace.  Which is a LOT slower than my pace was last Wednesday. I honestly do not get it.  But I don’t have time to ponder all the mysteries that is my injury, I must get ready for work!

Have a great Wednesday!!!

Got any theories about my mysterious leg injury?

What is your favorite day of the week?

What’s the weather like in your neck of the woods?

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A Body In Motion..

Have you ever heard the saying, “A body in motion stays in motion”?  Or is that a Bible verse?  I could Google it but I’m pressed for time but..you know the saying, right?

I made up my mind Saturday that I had to get myself back in to the habit of taking care of things I’ve neglected and I’ve been holding to it!

I cleaned this out of my wallet!

Two months worth of receipts!!  I do keep a checkbook in Excel so I had to enter all that info before I could take the stack to work and shred it!  This is what I did early Sunday AM when I was up early with a sick D!

I’m on this “eggs for breakfast” kick and have been fixing eggs for D and me every morning!
One day I didn’t have time to make us eggs and I noticed I was starving less than an hour later.  So..definitely making a point to make sure that both D and I have some source of protein in the morning with breakfast!
I think D loves the idea of mommy fixing her breakfast every morning…and brushing her hair..and pulling it out of her face..and brushing her teeth.  SPOILED!!

I was so proud of my packed lunch this AM!

Mostly because of the honey crisp apple – delicious!

I love getting surprises in the mail…like this!

Meeting C 12 years ago changed my life-TRUE STORY!!!!  D is super excited about the Starbucks gift cards!!  Thank you, C!!!!  I love you!!!

In other fun, exciting news, M and I booked our flight for the Tinker Bell half marathon weekend today because Southwest is having a fabulous sale!!  Our travel dates fell within their travel restrictions so..score!  Round trip for $139 can’t be beat!  Imagine our excitement when we registered for the race and then our excitement when we reserved the hotel room and now our excitement that we have our flights booked!

Been busy but I’m feeling good.  I’m getting my mind and body prepared to go for a run tomorrow morning.  I am just way too tired in the afternoon to run so I need to change things up and get my runs done in the morning’s.  This is a total switch for me so it’s going to be an adjustment.  We’ll see how it goes!

What’s your favorite kind of apple?

Do you keep a checkbook register and balance it every time you get a statement?

Are you running the Tinker Bell half marathon?

Do you pack your lunch or buy every day?

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Rainbows Make Me Happy!!

Hey there!

I was watching a recorded Dateline show last night in which they were following 3 families fighting their way through unemployment.  As a result, this morning I have been thinking and reflecting on what I went through this past summer.

The truth is..I really hit a low during my unemployment time, even though my unemployment turned out to be very short term, 34 days.  When you’re in the middle of something like that, you don’t know how long it’s going to last.  It feels like there are more questions than answers.  It feels like everything in your world is on hold.  It was a rough summer.  J moved to Ohio and even though he’s in a safe place and has my parents helping him out, it’s still hard to let go.  Then 6 weeks after he was gone, I lost my job.  But even though there were some devastating situations this summer, there were also some great events;  my friend C came to visit, I PR’d,  and I got a job!  Through it all, I was surrounded by the love and support of my husband, children, parents, my seester, family, friends, and you lovely readers.  I am truly blessed.

When I was working, prior to July, I use to wish I had more time to clean the house. When I found myself unemployed and had all the time in the world, I couldn’t bring myself to do anything about the mess around me.  It felt as though I was living in this fog and I could hardly function.  I struggled to snap out of it but the reality is..I was consumed in feeling paralyzed.  It felt like all I could think about was that I didn’t have a job and I needed to find one.

They say that when a company lays you off, it isn’t personal – it’s business.  I, quite honestly, don’t agree.  It is personal.  It was very personal to me and my family.  Not only was my job taken from me but the daily interactions with great people was also gone. not to mention my benefits, discounts, vacation possibilities…  While it wasn’t personal to the company, it had a very personal meaning to me.

Remember when my wonderful friends returned all the belongings that had been in my old desk?  I brought the stuff home, quickly unpacked it in J’s room and avoided looking at it afterwards.  Well, today I decided I would go ahead and go through the stuff.  But first..I was going to pull out all my “old company” t-shirts from my closet because seeing them hurts.  I’ll be looking for something to wear, come across a shirt and it’s like a knife through my heart.  So I gave myself permission to donate them!

There are some great memories in those shirts but I have the pictures and don’t need the hanging reminders.

Then I decided to go ahead and go through all my “old desk” stuff to determine what I might want to take to my new desk.  Don’t worry, it won’t be 4 boxes full!  I think I learned my lesson!

For my birthday this year, my friend A cut out all these different pictures of rainbows and hid them in places around my desk.  As I sorted through my stuff today and found all these pictures, I started to cry.  I worked with some amazing people who were so loving, supportive and caring.  I am blessed to have these memories.  I’m definitely keeping all the rainbow pics, after all, rainbows make me happy!

I use to post positive quotes on the walls of my desk, like this one:

I struggled with my attitude during unemployment but for the most part I chose to remain positive and trusting.  It was a choice I had to make from one moment to the next but I am a firm believer that you can choose what attitude you’re going to have about the situations you face in life!

I’m a huge Pirates of the Caribbean fan.  First, the ride at Disneyland and then second, the movies.  I’ve had this little Pirates treasure box for a few years, something I got in a Happy Meal.  Over the years, at work, I gathered little treasures to stick inside.

From time to time, someone at work would get curious about the contents and I would pull them out and explain:

Pictures of my lovies, confetti from an old team decorating my desk for my birthday, guitar pics from a friend, “chips” from Vegas (every treasure chest must have “gold”), a Target and Wal Mart penny (long story surrounding that one), Mickey heads a ring D got when she was just a toddler, and  a candle from a birthday cupcake.   Will I take my treasure box to my new desk?  Probably not but I welcome collecting treasures from my new experiences with my new co-workers.

I had a “fun” desk full of trinkets and mementos of my family and the great people I worked with.  I surrounded myself with happy memories and things that made me smile. Although I may not take very many of these old treasures to my new desk, I’m happy to have the tokens as memories.

I got knocked to my butt this summer.  My training went to crap.  My eating habits went to crap.  I felt sad. I cried a lot.  My house became an even bigger disaster zone than what it normally is.  I have piles of running and fitness magazines that I haven’t opened.  I’ve been going through the motions and not doing much more beyond that.

But I’m making a comeback and I’m giving myself permission to take it slowly and ease in to it.  I’m allowing myself to dismiss ideas of plans of things I thought I needed to do and refocusing on things that I absolutely believe I should do: take care of my family, get my house back in order, get my running routine back together, reestablish my better eating habits, and a whole bunch of other stuff.

My life has changed.  My work hours are different.  Our schedules and routines need to be readjusted.  I’m open to the change and I’m actually excited about it.  I just need to figure out how it’s going to work for the 3 of us.  For example, I use to run in the afternoons after work but I don’t think that schedule is going to work for us any more.  I’m not an early morning kind of person but running is important to me so I need to change my attitude about morning runs!

There are going to be some hiccups along the way but I’ll get it figured out.  Trial and error, right?

Sorry for the super long post that’s not so running related, but kind of is.  I just know that watching the Dateline show last night helped me and I thought that I could share some of the thoughts I’ve been having this morning and maybe it can help someone else?!  You just never know who is out there reading…

How is your Saturday going?

 

 

 

 

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Curiouser and Curiouser…and other Random Thoughts…

I was so busy today at work that I skipped taking a lunch and ate at my desk.  But then I ended up finishing my work by the “8 hour mark” so packed I up and headed out.  Normally, I would have stayed until my regular quitting time but since I had a date with the bike lane – I was really happy to be getting out earlier than expected so I could get my run on!!!

Can I just tell you how giddy and happy I felt racing home to go for my run?  Here are some random thoughts I had during today’s “supposed to be speed training” session:

  • Bald men in sports car convertibles make me giggle.
  • “We’ve become the walls we raise..” so true.  So deep, Matchbox Twenty!
  • Ah…I see the newborn pigeons are finally hatched just in time to crap all over the roofs in my neighborhood for the winter.
  • Why is it that I can seem to run the normal pace but my walking pace has drastically reduced?
  • My breathing is a lot more controlled today.  So thankful the lungs bounce back so quickly!
  • If you’re not supposed to drink and drive then how is it that there are so many broken bottles out here in the bike lane?  Or do people ride their bikes and then toss their bottles?  Or do people just hang out on the sidewalk drinking?  I am very curious.
  • The only crap part about putting dinner in the crock pot before work is that I am starving all day as a result.  So weird.
  • Dear Left Leg…you have never been a good running partner.  You’re the one always acting up.  Shameful!
  • I wonder if anyone just saw me totally rock out to that song?
  • Why is the grass at the park all brown? It was all green Sunday?  I wonder if it wasn’t grass but instead just green weeds?
  • I’m feeling very curious on this run today.
  • I hope that UPS man is heading to my house with D’s eye patches.
  • Hmm..I’m not liking my profile in that shadow.

I ran/walked 1.87 miles in 26:32 minutes, a 14:11 pace.  The leg wasn’t nearly as sore as it was when I ran on Sunday!

Do you have a leg that always gives you problems?  

Do you giggle when it’s time to go for your run?  

What’s for dinner tonight?