Just a minute of my time...

Running goals

99 miles until I reach my goal of 1000 miles in 2011, and at this point I'm even thinking about getting to 1100 for 2011 and setting a goal of 1200 for 2012? We will see how November shapes up, and then I will know how much I can get in December?

Also, I am working on 12 half marathons for 2012.  Jill has put together this list, and even got us a sponsor!  Chelsea and I are planning on for 2012 at least one out of state, my aunt wants us back in California and how can I refuse, so we are also looking for a race there, preferably the Nike Womens half in October, but you get in by a lottery, so we will see?

January

• 1/15/2012 Run for Regis Half Cuyahoga National Park, OH 

February

• 2/11/2012 Cedars Frost Bite Lebanon, TN 
• 2/11/2012 Strawberry Plains Half Strawberry Plains, TN 
• 2/27/2012 Last Chance for Boston Dublin, OH 

March

• 3/18/2012 Mercy Heart Half Cincinnati, OH 

April

• 4/15/2012 Gulf Coast Half Pensacola, FL 
• 4/28/2011 Kentucky Derby Mini Marathon Lousisville, KY 

May

• 5/20/2012 Rite Aid Cleveland Half Cleveland, OH 
• 5/16/2012 Cincinnati Flying Pig Cincinnati, OH 

June

• 6/10/2012 Lake Health Distance Classic Concord, OH 
• 6/17/2012 Canton Marathon Canton, OH 

July

• 7/21/2012 Alexian Brothers Sports Festival Hoffman Estates, IL 

August

• 8/13/2012 Columbus Half* Columbus, OH 
• 8/21/2012 Little Miami Half Cincinnati, OH 

September 

• 9/15/2012 USAF Half Dayton, OH 

October

• 10/15/2012 Indianapolis Marathon Indianapolis, IN 
• 10/16/2012 Nationwide Columbus Marathon Columbus, OH 

November

• 11/5/2012 Indianapolis Monumental Marathon Indianapolis, IN 
• 11/5/2012 Mason Half Marathon Mason, OH 
• 11/12/2012 Louisville Sports Commission Half Louisville, KY 

December

• 12/2/2012 Tour de Ashland* Ashland, OH 

 

You can find more fitness Friday blogs here

 

All the rain

After meeting with farmer Ray last week, everytime it rains I think of him. He shared with me that he can't harvest the soybean crops until it dries out, and this rain just keeps coming! His house is mortgaged for it, and he could lose it all if they can't get those soybeans.

It's been his most challenging year, and it has really brought the issues of the farmers to the forefront of my life. He's 88 years old, outdoors working on that farm daily, shouldn't life be easier for him?

Yet even as I express Ray's challenging year, he still smiled and chatted and said "it will all work out"... he still has faith that no matter what happens, that everything will be okay. Did I mention he's the sweetest?

And as a constantly learning photographer, he says to me the greatest compliment I have heard to date.  "Your pictures of my farm have made me see my farm in a way I had never noticed"

And so when I think of my word for the year challenged, I had only seen challenges and how they affected me, and have learned there are many challenges out there, we are all going through, each of us going through them with a different attitude, and that's what makes the difference.  

I need to remember farmer Ray's attitude the next time I am faced with a challenge!

My word for 2011

Challenge...

And I continue to find ways to challenge myself.  When we talked about Parasailing, I talked more about the kids doing it, and then while watching I thought, why not?  But for some reason Zach wasn't up to it, so it turned out to be Chelsea, Ben and I.

We had to book it a couple nights before, and decided that a morning "flight" would be a good idea. We got up early and headed out to "Flamingo's donuts" a place where Chelsea found that they make your donuts to order, with all kinds of specialty ones.  Too cute and oh my, awesome donuts!

Then we were off to parasail

Facing my fears has been a huge challenge, with huge rewards and confidence building. After losing Ryan I have always lived in a world of doubt. That if something bad was going to happen, it would happen to me, or my family.  And for many years it seemed I was right, I mean who else has lost their son, father, brother and cousin so premature.  But over the past few years, and especially this year I decided I needed to live my life, challenge myself and take chances, even when fear was involved.... bring on the parasailing

oh yes and getting dipped in the salty water 

Awesome day, would definitely do it again!

 

Getting back on track

I spent the last few weeks doing a lot of over indulging and I'm paying for it now! With Chelsea heading off to Wisconsin we visited some of our favorite spots before she left. As well as Memorial weekend away with family where we did indulge in some more eating and drinking.

But I'm not going to beat myself up for it, in fact it has sparked me to get serious with my training for the Chicago marathon. I wrote down Hal Higdon's schedule for training and got running.

I think sometimes we need to fall down and get back up to learn and grow as we are going through this journey. Whether its with the every day stuff or the food stuff the best thing to do is get up and start again.

This weekend we took Chelsea to Wisconsin where she will be working at a weight loss camp for kids. It's an awesome experience for her and more teaching and training in the field she loves. She applied to several camps and had her choice in this adventure and while we are going to miss her, we are so proud.... more on her adventure another post. 

As she goes through her training she is sharing tips and ideas with me and we have decided to challenge one another during this time we are apart, to help us prepare for Chicago in the fall.

And so yesterday I took a 5 mile run by myself in the park and it was wonderful! Hot, but wonderful. It gave me time to think and prioritize my goals, it felt good to be outdoors running and my new Nike running clothes I picked up in Chicago sure didn't hurt things! More about these later...

The only bad about that 5 mile run, well besides for the sweat flies dive bombing me, I didn't take my water. I usually run indoors and have the water near by and yet  I didn't feel like carrying it outdoors today... not a good idea since it was hot and sticky and I was far from my car. Going to look into other alternatives for my outdoor running because yes, I am going again...

The next step

I told my husband about my going back to school desires and he supports anything I want to do! I told him about taking the placement test, but when I came home with this he said

"well now it's official"

Back to school...

Did someone say Challenge? this year it is my word for one little word. Most of the year that word has been about running and challenging my body. Now I'm ready to challenge my mind...

 

 

I'm so excited, I finally did it, I went back to school to take my English placement test. So many things inspired me; my love for writing, my love for photography (two of the classes I want to pursue). But also with the kids getting bigger its time for me to find myself.  And I can't deny the posts about back to school from Slacker mom also aided in my decision.

It was sparked with a seminar we recently went to, a motivational seminar about... motivating yourself to change. How to make change happen and stocks and happiness and lots of other things.  I left inspired to make some changes and one way to make change is to write down your goals and then do something everyday to work towards those goals.

Going back to school has been one of my goals and I think between the kids and money I have held back. And I guess I shouldn't have been surprised when I went to take the placement test and saw I would enter a room filled with computers and not be handed a sheet of paper and pencil like I had remembered, after all it has been 10 years since I took a test!

And so with the upcoming busy summer we have planned, with trips from Pennsylvania to California, Wisconsin and of course Hilton head Island I added summer classes to the schedule and I can't wait!

Rite Aid Cleveland Marathon 2011

A year has passed and I ran the Rite Aid Cleveland Marathon for a second time. The route was changed a bit because of the construction going on downtown and I wondered if I would be able to PR? After all I've been doing this for over a year now???

I was concerned about the weather all week long. What would it be like to run in constant rain, since that's all the forecast was calling for? I pictured my feet soaked and cold, rain in my face... I had imagined the worse until finally I decided whatever its going to be I will deal with it as it comes.

I had debated wearing a jacket to help keep me dry if it rained but quickly decided against it since in almost every race I've ran I was over dressed and didn't want to repeat that mistake. We headed outside ready to head down to Cleveland Brown's stadium and met up with some of the other runners leaving our hotel. I was pleasantly surprised to find the temperature a bit chilly and no rain... perfect for running!

For some reason I wasn't nervous this race? So many times heading down to the start line I can feel my nerves kicking in but not this time, it was different it was like just going out for a run with 25,000 people...lol

At the expo the day before Chelsea and I had picked up some compression socks and I was hoping these would help my legs and prevent shin splints. They worked wonders or my new shoes made the difference? Either way I was definitely feeling better.  Except when we were crossing our first bridge... suddenly my legs felt like noodles? I can't quite explain the feeling but a sense of panic came over me to be feeling this awkward at such an early point. Soon I realized other runners were feeling it to and it was in fact the bridge moving as the 25,000 of us pounded across it. While it didn't calm me quite yet, once we got off the bridge my legs felt normal again.

I knew the entire race my pace wasn't the best, I would push myself whenever possible but something was holding me back? I visited the doctor before our 10 mile run in April and after some testing they had suggested I try an inhaler since my symptoms sounded like exercise induced asthma. I had forgotten the inhaler for this run and every time my chest would get heavy I would slow my pace.

I was disappointed that after a  year of running my pace had fallen backwards instead of improving? My time from running the Rite Aid Cleveland last year was 2:26:25 and this year was 2:24:12.  An improvement, but not was I was hoping for?  And poor Chelsea at mile 2 had been hit by a wheelchair bike coming through as she was heading to a water station. She was bruised but somehow continued to run the additional 11.1 miles needed to finish the marathon. Her time 2:17:17.

It had started raining by the 8th mile, drizzling I guess you would say, and boy was it a welcome feeling.  I had no idea how much I would enjoy running in the rain! However, once we finished the race, got our medal and headed out of the coral the chill began to set in. I think as we cooled down the temperature  was cooling down and we were frozen by the time we made our way back to our hotel.

I felt more confident and experienced this run but not accomplished?  One thing a runner can see is their time and the only thing my time was proving to me is that I need to train differently for the next race. It was a lesson, a challenge to be sure and an experience that I will grow from.

Now time to get training for the next race...

 

One little word captured

Another race, another challenge and oh so much more! 

My challenge started with preparing for the race. I was starting to feel winded and tired and couldn't run a few miles, let alone pick up my pace. Finally my husband urged me to go get things checked out with the doctor. They ordered a Stress echo and a complete pulmonary test. I asked if I could get them done before the weekend of the race since I was hoping to still run it.

Getting this checked out and the thought of not running was a challenge. In fact driving home after the tests I was brought to tears just thinking of not running anymore, it has become such a part of me, I miss it when I don't run after a few days...

The stress echo came back fine, my heart is fine. They are now looking at exercise induced asthma? and I need to follow up with a pulmonary specialist.

I ran the race on Sunday and a tough race it was, lots of hills and while I didn't reach my goal PR running the 10 miles, I'm glad with all I've been going through recently that I was able to run it at all and finish it, now that was a challenge! My time 1:47:05...

You can check out more One little word captured at Jills blog

OLW - The ups and downs of running

One little word - Challenge

One little word captured - week 14

and I'm not talking about the hills...

So here I am after over a year of running. Pushing myself further than I ever thought possible and recently on two different runs I wasn't feeling it. I pushed through, but I wasn't feeling it from beginning to end.  And I've signed up for a full marathon this year?  How am I going to do this if these 6-10 mile runs are getting to me?

Although there may have been a little pep talk in the middle of my run that kept me going for a bit - it definitely was a struggle, and why? What am I doing differently from one run to the next?  How does one seem so invigorating that I can't remove the smile from my face and the next feel like its going to bring me to tears?

I'm trying not to psyche myself out, to research and find out that this is normal for runners and it doesn't mean I won't be feeling that euphoria again soon

and so I've decided to dig a little deeper.  Come up with a food journal of what and when I eat things as well as a running log next to it to see if this correlates with how I feel? Like all those jellybeans? They probably didn't help how I felt? I'm going to make a doctor appointment and get a physical and I think I'm in need of new running shoes again too.

We have another race coming up this weekend, a 10 mile race and while this week I'm going to do my best to eat well and prepare for the race, after this race I'm going to make some changes for 6 weeks and see where they lead me  besides for right up to the Rite Aid Cleveland half marathon.  

my before picture

My plan is to do weekly posts of my changes and the "ups and downs" of these changes, fine tuning along the way.

Goals of the 6 week challenge

• feeling better when I run
• those blasted last few pounds that keep hanging around, literally
• building muscle (mostly in my arms, but also my core strength)
• getting faster and stronger
• Two a days whenever possible

You can find more projects with ONE LITTLE WORD CAPTURED ON JILLS BLOG

 

OLW Blog hop

One little word - Challenge

Joining in on the fun and inspiration of the One little word blog hop was a CHALLENGE in itself for me this month.  It seems I just get to the previous months projects and a new month has begun. But alas I will not lose faith and I will continue on this journey as much as it CHALLENGES me throughout the year.

I loved the homework for March, making us get back to business with our word and taking action. Setting one goal to get us drive us in the direction we need to go. With my word being CHALLENGE there were many to face. The little things like losing that last 10 lbs and while I'm still running and working out I definitely haven't been working hard on the weight loss part and as those of us know losing weight is a CHALLENGE.

I did make a list this month and make changes by changing my workout routine to include more than running. Adding more weight lifting and spinning as a part of my regimen each week.

My son is into lifting weights and I am more into running, so this month we shared in each others worlds.  He went running with me and I got to understand a little bit more his love for the weights.

My goal/challenge for this month is to have more of the tasks completed for my album and being more specific in my challenges each month so I can achieve more.

You can find more participants in the One little word blog hop and follow along in their progress. I hope it inspires you as it has inspired me!  You can continue along in this blog hop by heading over to Kimberly's blog here

Here is a list of the participants 

Margie	http://xnomads.typepad.com/blog
Amanda	http://scrappnbee.blogspot.com
Donna	http://donnabryantdurand.blogspot.com
Joy	www.undiscoveredjoy.blogspot.com
Jan	http://mysimplelittlelife.typepad.com
Jamie	http://jmpgirl.blogspot.com/
Nikki	http://www.inkyart.com.au
Monica B2	www.questtoperfectimperfection.blogspot.com
Cindy	http://seriousplay.typepad.com
Stacey	http://www.TheAcornGarden.com/blog
Katrina	http://k84mansramblings.blogspot.com/
Rebekah	http://istampscrapcraft.blogspot.com/
Monica	http://scraplifters.blogspot.com/
Chrissy	http://getcraftywithchrissy.blogspot.com/
Jill	http://jillconyers.typepad.com/
Lisa	http://makeyourownescape.blogspot.com
Kathryn	www.katlodesigns.com
Jennifer	www.studiojenn.blogspot.com
Jen	www.byjen.com
Sam	http://learncreatedo.wordpress.com/
Miranda	http://mirandasscrapsite.blogspot.com
Lynn	www.crafty-creativity.blogspot.com
Cynthia	http://paperpapereverywhere.blogspot.com/
Cheri A	http://cheriandrews.blogspot.com
Deb	http://blakleyhomeplace.blogspot.com
Nicky	www.seejanebake.blogspot.com
Karen D	http://womenontractors.blogspot.com/
Tina	http://ryzmomplus2.typepad.com/my_weblog/
Kimberly	http://foreverdaisies.blogspot.com/
Abbey	http://athomewiththerichardsfamily.blogspot.com/
Julie Ann	http://julieannshahin2.blogspot.com