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Running: I have a crush

There is good news and there is better news.  I have better news.  

My new shoes came in the mail.  I have been waiting for them for what seems like an eternity.  The advertizement on their site said "VIPers get their orders shipped within two hours!"  I was so on that.  PAid $1.99 to become a VIP member.  Saved myself $20 off my shoes plus $16.99 on the shipping.  Well worth the $1.99 if I say so myself.  However, I don't know what two hour time frame they were talking about.  Two hours before a natural disaster, or two hours before they knew I was going to call and cancel my order after waiting close to TWO WEEKS.  Yeah, not cool.  But I can say, that my shoes are A-mazing.  Hands down the BEST foot ride, ever.  My feet felt like they were running on little clouds.  Puffy little white pillows.  My legs felt good, too.

I have a been a die hard Puma fan for a while...but my friend, Terry, told me about Mizuno and highly recommended them.  And she kept recommending them until I finally took the bait -- AND the test.  Yeah, I went online and they have this nifty little test I took to assess, as best they can, what style and type of shoe needed for my gait. 

Monday, I took them for a test run.  1.39 miles in 11:24.  Lapped an 8min mile, too.  I was in a hurry that day so I had to cut my run VERY short.  boo.  But I want to go again, and again and again. 

I'm a happy woman with my Garmin and my shoes. 

Oh, and I'm crushing on my Garmin.  He's so stinkin cool.

I just registered for another 5k and he's coming with.

Silent cheerleaders.  The weekend is coming, what's in it for you?

Running: The Juggle

There are a few moms I follow, here in this vast world of blogdom, and admire greatly.  They seem to have it all together.  Seriously.  They are running half-marathons, full marathons, 197 mile relays, you name it.  Some of them have upwards of four children, too.  I don't see how they can do that and balance their home life.  But, I am not them and they are not me, so here is my life:

To be honest, I don't have it all together.  Some days I do and some days I don't.  That hurts.  There are days when I am barely hanging on to sanity because there is so much on my to-do list and it's already after lunch.  No bueno.

For a while I had a fabulous routine going and I was able to hit my goal of twenty miles per week.  Now, I'm down to six miles.  If I'm lucky.  Yeah, my routine took a major hit.   Just recently, I identified the culprits and I'm sad to say that it's Body Pump and the gym.  They take up too much time.  If I plan on going to the gym, I must have dinner started by 3pm.  No later.  Dinner is ready and left warming from 4:30pm until around 6 when D gets back from work and picking up the kids from the gym.  I get back around 7, we have family time then settle down for the evening.  

That was happening two days a week.  Two days, too much for me, anyway.  The rest of the week I was sewing Punk MOnkeys, cleaning, going to church, going to prayer, doing other various churchy things and otherwise.  Eventually, I had to admit to myself that it wasn't working and something had to give.  And it's going to be Body Pump.  It's not worth the stress for me.  My family doesn't deserve that at all.  So, I'm only going to do Body Pump once a week, if that.  I might even quit the gym.  I'll miss it, but my family is more important.

Nothing more discouraging than an unorganized schedule and a stressful day.  So, I'm taking back my weeks and my days and my miles.  I'm reorganizing myself and starting over again. 

 As much as I love running, I love my family more.  The End.

Running: 24:16

Holy running shoes.  New personal record, folks.  I ran 3.09 miles yesterday and BEAT my last PR!  My last PR was the 5k in a neighboring town.  Omggggeee.  *sigh*  And I thought my life as a wannabe-runner was over.  Nope, I'm still kickin'.

In spite of my lack of updates, I HAVE been running.  I just haven't been running as much and, quite, frankly, I've been really discouraged.  After some thought, I figured out why.  My focused had switched.  Body Pump was really taking over my workout life and my running was being put on the back burner.  So, yes, now I have successfully managed to cheat myself out of a half-marathon and dash my dreams of running a marathon.  Forget about running one this year. 

The words "just give up" even started to surface in my mind.  I'm ashamed.  But, I'm not going to quit, because I've found that I really, really love running.  Can someone say, therapy?  Yes.  It is.  A slight form of therapy is what running has become.  I enjoy running, listening to my breathing, thinking, focusing on making it, challenging myself to keep a certain pace it's all a very healthy experience.

So, I know a while back I posted a teaser about getting a Garmin.  Can I say, that my running experiences just got ten times better!?  Garmin is UH-mazing.  I am still learning how to use all the features, but let me tell you, that virtual partner will push you to be better!  I still haven't named it yet, but I will.
Last night my run stats looked something like this:

My actual time was 24:16 but I accidentally started the timer again and it messed everything up :(  boo.  But, believe me, I did run 3 miles in a little over 24 min.  (like I said, still getting used to it) It was a great feeling.  Just me, the pavement, and my Garmin. 

Hopefully, my posts on this blog will become regular again.  Tomorrow I'll post about juggling my life and rearranging my schedule to fit in my workouts.

Hey, you, silent cheerleader, you still with me?  I need all the support I can get!

Of Food and Love: Simply Basic and a Pack of Crayons

Of Food and Love: Simply Basic and a Pack of Crayons: Well, several packs. Four 24 packs to be precise. Over the weekend we decided to try out the melted Crayola poster board activity. It was...

Mommy: Life

I love catching photos like this.  My son is so inventive.  He really wanted to make a swing from his old bat.  He tried to enlist my help but I told him no...didn't stop him and ten minutes later I caught this out of the corner of my eye.

Running: Update~ Sewing: Update

I haven't written on this blog in so long.  But let me give you a quick overview.

Since my etsy shop, I have been really, really busy sewing.  I haven't made many sales through etsy itself, but word of mouth.  Etsy has really helped though!  I am sewing a new Punk Monkey almost everyday and it consumes a lot of my time.  It takes me two days to sew one monkey...sometimes three.  And that, only because I have children and I can not sit down and speed through the process.

My running:  SO discouraged.  I haven't stopped.  I run every week, but my shoes and schedule have put the skids on me.  My shoes are giving me fits.  I busted on of the shoe lace holder-contraptions on my new Pumas, putting those out of commission.  So, I returned to my old faithfuls and those started giving me shin splints.  NO bueno.  But, I did order a new pair of shoes and....well, I will post on that when they come in.  I also, FINALLY, got my Garmin Forerunner!!  I am so, so excited to share with you all my experience with it.

So, that is it, for now.  Sorry for lack of posting.  I really need to get on the ball.  I do have another race scheduled, so I'm not down and completely out!

Of Food and Love: This Weekend: Give Up

Of Food and Love: This Weekend: Give Up: "Give up on being critical of your neighbor -- it ruins beautiful things like relationships. Give up on being selfish -- sharing is so much ..."