Friday's Funnies

I've never done a FF before, but it struck my fancy this morning so it's what I'm rolling with.  Just a few random funnies I found, mostly on facebook, this week.  Some are running related, some are not.  Have a good chuckle and have a great weekend!!!!

 ^^^^Guilty....very, very guilty ^^^^

^^^^That's my story and I'm stickin' with it!^^^^

After going through my funny folder I had way too many to choose from.  This could easily become a very regular theme for me. 

Hello......Good-bye....

Three Things Thursday is on hold for today.  Which is actually very crazy because I KNOW I had 3 things to tell you all about.  However I sat down this morning and........*insert crickets chirping in my blank mind*.  I'm stress about something for today so I shall just blame it on that.  Here is my excitement for today though.....

I have a new pair of running shoes. A pair of Saucony Guide. A favorite of mine that I've worn for the last two years or so. I only had about 250 miles on my old pair. They are still fine & working, but based on the obvious wear & tear and getting "up there" in mileage, I knew it was time. For a chance I wanted to switch shoes before the old pair got to a state of complete uselessness. That way I can still get some use out of them as everyday shoes. Right now when I shoe shop there is one main criteria....how much they cost. I feel like such a traitor for not shopping at my local running store (especially since I personally love the staff so much), but I have to look at the bottom dollar and I can usually find something cheaper online. I certainly would also love something super cute, snazzy & cool looking, but again that usually cost more. I went with what I could find in what I know I need in a shoe at the cheapest price possible. I hit jackpot on ebay with my new Guides for only $39.00 and that included shipping. Score one for the checkbook!!

The pink ones on the left are my old ones, blue on the right new.  Exact same shoe, just different colors.  In about a month I will be searching for another new pair of shoes.  Earlier this year I realized that I'm to the point where I need to alternate between two pairs.  Brooks Adrenline is my other works good for me favorite.  I will be searching for another pair of those at just the right price to replace my current pair.  Unless, of course, some running company wants to send me a FREE pair.  I mean, I'll get lots of use out of them and provided they work well for me, I WILL rant and rave on my blog and facebook about how great & wonderful they are.  Any takers?  Anyone?  Hel-looooo?  Well, it never hurts to put it out there.......

So I welcome my blue Saucony's with a hearty Hello & bid my pink Saucony's a Good-bye.  They have served me well and have many great stories to tell about the miles they ran with me.

Vloggin' Wednesday - It's not just me!!!!

Monday's Motivation

After having SEVERAL days of non stop, on the go, action and very....VERY little sleep I forced myself to sleep in today.  I was becoming very zombie-ish and was going to crash and burn if I didn't do something about it.  My internal clock woke me up at 5 a.m., but I went back to sleep with no problem until I had a full 8 hours in my bank.

I had the flexibility to do this because this afternoon I had nothing on my calendar so I knew I could venture out on an afternoon run.  Note:  I didn't say I had nothing to do.  Ha....while I did get a lot done today, the kitchen still needs my attention and I need to start supper soon.  Consider yourself special since you are a notch above those two things today : )

I came across today's motivation from a post by Sexy Mother Runner.  I just loved this motivational tip.  More so for the notion of not eating your favorite foods.  I'm all about food.  LOTS of it.  The good stuff & yes, plenty of the bad.  I obviously make plenty of good food choices.  Another favorite saying of mine is that there in not enough training to undo a bad diet.  The good has to outweigh the bad and I think my fitness level is a testament of that.   I also agree with the notion of being "stuck" in a body you hate.  I used the "  "  because it really is your choice how you treat your body and affect it's outcome.  Granted some things we can not control.  Stretch marks, wide hips, boobs down to our knees.  I'm obviously talking to the women folk here.  My body is far from perfect, but for the most part I'm happy with it.  Maybe because I know that every day I go out there and do something for it.  I push it to it's limits and watch it do the most amazing things.  I love my body, more so for what it can do and what I do for it than how it actually looks.

 

So now....what are you going to do?  I know it sounds totally cliche....but JUST DO IT!

Three Things Thursday

1.  Sometimes my "she runs everywhere" title takes itself a little too seriously.  Not in my daily running adventures, although that is quite often true.  But in my life with 6 kids, I have days where I'm literally in the van non stop going from here to there and back again.  We actually limit our kid's activities and don't let them do "everything".  When you have each kid just doing 1 or 2 things then it all adds up.  Fall is the busiest season for us.  I know that, but it can wear on me some days.  Yesterday after I ran I was in the van and on the go pretty much non stop for the next 3 hours.  I stopped home a few times, but was only home briefly and usually ran in to get something done real quick.  When I walked in the door right before 6 I had yet another request to go somewhere, but I finally put a halt on any movement so I could stop, take a shower and eat my gourmet supper of waffles (Wednesday is always a light/simple/easy meal night).  Even then once that 30 minutes was over I was back out the door and on the move to my next thing.  I don't mean any of this as a complaint, for the most part I enjoy all that I do.  Being available for my kids has always been very important to us and I'm thankful that it's a huge part of my life!

2.  My foot started to hurt yesterday.  Right before my run my heel started to hurt a little.  I was hobbling around the house.  I have no idea what even brought it on. I was like "oh no you don't!!!!" I was getting out the door and running no matter what!  It went away, although during my run my arch/plantar started to hurt a little on the same foot.  Go figure.  I still pushed through. It was not a complete oh no you better stop hurt.  Makes sense though.  My pt told me that often arch pain often starts further up on the foot and/or up into the leg.  So if my heel was hurting right before then it makes sense my arch was then twinging a little.  I was too busy the rest of the day to notice much, but when I got up this morning I was hobbling around again.  More heel pain.  It's subdued now, but was really bugging me this morning.  Will have to monitor this closely.  Injury makes me massively a little crazy.  I'm not going down that road if I can help it.

 3.  Saturday is the first official day of fall.  Yay!  I'm running toward it with my arms wide open ready to welcome it in!  While July is my favorite month of the year, fall is my favorite season of the year. I already have apple cider in my fridge.  I've been wearing sweats and/or jeans and hoodies just about non stop.  I pulled a long sleeve shirt out to run earlier this week.  I'm loving it!  What is your favorite season of the year?

Vloggin' Wednesday

I'm heading out the door for the run that I talk about in my video:



Can't find the free shipping code for Bondi Band.  I emailed them, I'm sure they'd be happy to pass that along to me.  Will let you know when I get that info!

114 Tuesday's Tunes

It has been awhile since I did this, but normally on Tuesday's I post the songs from my run that day.  Don't worry though, 114 is not reflective of how many tunes I am going to post.  I *only* ran 4 miles this morning which yielded a playlist of 10 songs.  114 would be reflective of several hours of running.  During my 8 hour Howl at the Moon last month, I listened to 138 songs.

Here are the songs that I listened to this morning:

Hanging Tough - New Kids on the Block
Somewhere Over the Rainbow - Israel Kamakowiwo'ole
Hasta La Vista - Camp Rock
One Moment in Time - Whitney Houston
Bad Romance - Lady Gaga
Bye Bye Bye - N'Sync
I'll Be There for You - Bon Jovi
The Star Spangled Banner - Super Bowl XXV, Whitney Houston
Daydream Believer - The Monkees
Free to Be Me - Francesca Battistelli

Normally, I'm so kind to link each song to youtube for you.  I just don't have the extra time to do that today.  I'm sure you understand....you can't please everyone every time.  You'll get over it.  If not I'll give you a nice dose of TOO BAD TOO SAD : )

So????  What does the 114 stand for? 

That is the number of continuous days that I have ran.  I have run at least 1 mile every single day since Memorial Day on May 28.  In those 114 days of running I have logged 432 miles.  Year to date that brings my total up to 703 miles.  That compares to 135 days & 654 miles I ran in all of 2011 and 107 days & 530 miles I ran in 2010.  Wow, I think it's fair to say my running has progressed significantly in the last few years.  And, no big surprise....I'm LOVIN' it!!!!

I'm really....REALLY looking forward to what I can continue to do with my running.  It gets me all warm & tingly inside.  Or maybe I just need to go to the bathroom.....either way YAY for me!!!!

How is your running going?  Tell me about it....seriously, I'd love to know!!!!

¿Qué pasa?

I thought I would start out today's post with a little espanol to give tribute to my heritage, whose independence day was yesterday.  If you don't know, ¿Qué pasa? means What's happening?!?!?!?!  (extra punctuation my own emphasis) in Spanish.  That's what I feel like right now.  Like I just busted in the door after being gone for 2 weeks with arms wide open ready to kiss y'all on both cheeks.  I in no way planned to take a break.  Life just happened.  Along with my regular c~r~a~z~y life, you throw in some on going grieving, depression and a regional training event at work that required me to slip into the working mom role and I felt I had no choice but to abandon any plans to blog. 

Unfortunately it happens :(  Thankfully not on an ongoing basis.  Grieving & depression seem to be getting better (although that is the tricky part with that, it can easily come & go, but I really do see where I've turned a corner here) and my regional training is over.  Aside from some paper work I can put those full time hours behind me.  My c~r~a~z~y life however, will never change.  Remember????  6 kids....need I say more?  That part I love though and knew that is what I was signing up for....the good, the bad, the ugly.

In many other areas I am working to get back on track with what I consider normal Carmen standard.  It's a high standard, but one I set upon myself.  So, while I plan to get back on track with blogging, I need to really work on getting on, posting and being done in a timely manner.  A little wham-bam-thank you m'am is in order here.

I did say recently that no matter how busy I am I always have time for running.  I had been wanting to get on and tell you about my accomplishments I've made in that area.  But, it will have to wait until tomorrow.  Ooooh, the agony of waiting!!!!  I have continued to run though, every! single! day!.  How many days in a row now?  Hmmmm, you'll have to turn in tomorrow to find out.

Taken a few weeks ago at the high school xc meet.  Am I freaking awesome, or what?!?!

Rewind: Olympic Virtual Track Meet

Here's another event that I meant to blog about, but never got done. Even though I'm not a weekend blogger I figured I'd squeeze this one in here. After all it's a holiday 3 day weekend and with the effects off Hurricane Isaac cancelling/changing all of our plans I'm home a bit more than expected.

Awhile back Run with Jess hosted a virtual track meet in honor of the Olympics.  We had 10 days to compete in Olympic track distances and send her our times & pictures.  For extra fun she encouraged to get a group of friends together and have an actual track meet.  I sent out an email to some friends, but only one came, and she was there more for support than to actually run.  Worked out good because she was my timer and picture person.

I ran the following distances on the track:  100, 200, 400, 800 & 1 mile.  I am not a speed person at all and my times were a little embarrassing.  Or maybe it felt that way because at the time I was watching Olympic coverage on t.v. almost everyday, all the time.  Seeing those fine tuned athletes and hearing their success stories and inspirations can make a middle aged stay at home mom of 6 kids feel slow, fat and pathetic.  Meh.....feelings, smeelings.  I'm not meaning to be down/hard on myself....just explaining what was going through my mind.

I was out there, gave effort and most importantly had fun.  I'm sure it's the closest I will come to Olympic glory.  My life with a husband and 6 kids is so worth the trade-off!  Here are some pictures of the fun I had.