Another Year Older

Happy Birthday to me :)

Earlier this month I turned 35.  I can't believe I am 35, but there it is. However, I think I am the healthiest I have ever been.  Seriously.  How is that possible? I'm in my 30's and now is the time that I have become my healthiest.  It's taken being pregnant, having kids, and staying home with my kids full-time for me to realize that I need to take my health and my weight seriously.  I mention my weight because when my weight goes up my knees hurt, I trudge along, my energy is low, and I am hungry all the time.  When my weight goes down I feel like a rock star because I can move more easily, my energy (for the most part) is up, and I eat much healthier and I don't crave the junk food.

This is a big year for me.  I am at my lowest weight since being pregnant for the first time. Yeah, it's only taken me 7(!) years to finally get rid of the baby weight from all 3 kids.  Not only have I lost the weight I have discovered a passion for running. And, no, I'm not being chased!

Blessed beyond measure

I have run in the past and I have run in a few 5K, a couple of 5 milers, and a 10K over the last 7 years.  But this past October after coming off an injury (I had a wicked case of Plantar Fasciitis) I ran in a running festival with family and I was hooked!  I ran my first ever 7 miles as a member of a 4 part marathon relay team. I started training late for it because I was scared and I was kind of hoping that we weren't going through with it. But once Hubby's cousin took the lead on our team I made a definite commitment and kicked my training into gear.  Everyone else could run longer distances and at a faster pace. But I was happy to be included and I didn't want to let them down.  Oh.My.Goodness! I ran faster than I thought possible, LOVED the vibe from the spectators, and truly enjoyed participating in this event with family. It was a great bonding experience and made me love them even more. One awesome benefit was spending extra time with Hubby's cousin and her husband. I was able to spend the night with them so I didn't have to drive an hour to the race site in the wee hours of the morning.  We looked at old family photographs, talked for hours, and I got to know them better. It was great. But that entire event, the bonding, the vibe, the spectators, the runner's high, and reading Born to Run...it all totally hooked me.

And now at 35,  I am running in my first half-marathon. WHAT?  That's right. You heard me, I'm running in my first half-marathon. This chubby little girl in her 30's has fallen in love with running and ran 13.1 miles last Sunday.  How did I fall into that?  Well, my seat mate on the bus to the first leg of the marathon relay in October told me about this race and told me the registration date. She planted the seed in my head and I talked about it for months. After overcoming a few more injuries (a calf strain and hip pain) that took a couple of months to heal completely, I decided to start training keeping my eye on the registration. Finally last month after a conversation with my husband he told me to go for it. I was already training as if I was registered why not just do it. So I did. And did you see that? You better take a look because that was pigs flying. Never in a million years did I ever believe that I would sign up for that kind of crazy. I will definitely write a later post about that experience, because it was awesome.

So at 35, where am I in my life?

• I am a stay at home mommy to my three children ages 7, 4, and 2.  I have been blessed to be home with my kids for the last 4+ years.  
• I am a wife to my amazing husband and I have been married for almost a dozen years.
•  I am still trying to find my career calling.  I still don't know what I want to be when I grow up. I was a teacher, my husband thinks I'll be a teacher again. I'm taking classes to keep up my certification, so maybe he's right.
•  I'm still writing, but not as often as I would like. Does that still make me a writer, even if it is done causally? 
•  I am a runner.  Overhearing your daughter tell her friend, "My mommy is a runner" kind of makes it official. 
•  I continue to make baby blankets and full length afghans for family and friends.
•  I volunteer at my son's school and in different ministries at church and I love being a part of each volunteer opportunity.
•  Somewhere in there I try to be a friend to my friends, though I know that I am falling down on the job because I am almost never home and my hours are crazy (I'm up by 4am 4:30am and I collapse by 8pm and try to eek out more time in my day by staying up just a little bit later).
• And finally,  I am imperfect and I am thankful for God's grace and forgiveness. 

Thirty-five isn't looking too shabby.  I will continue to work on myself to be the wife, mother, daughter, sister, and friend that God wants me to be. I am blessed beyond measure by family and friends. I feel so good physically and I look forward to tackling yet another half-marathon.  God has been so good and while I am enjoying where I am right now, I look forward to what God has in store for me.

Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV)

 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Barefoot Runnin'

Now, I wouldn't call myself a runner. I have terrible form, I'm overweight, I become that really unhealthy-looking red color that makes people worry, and I am S-L-O-W.  However, in a weird way I love the feeling I get after a run. That runner's high coursing through me. I feel like I can conquer anything after a run...even if I'm red-faced and super sweaty.

I recently finished reading Born to Run by Christopher McDougall.  My brother-in-law suggested it to me after I had to bail out of running a 5-mile race with him because of a wicked (small according to the doctor) heel spur and a horrible case of plantar fasciitis.  I gotta tell you, I'm hooked (on the book, not the injuries).  If you are into running and you haven't tried barefoot running, or if you're wondering why you have a variety of injuries due to running, READ THIS BOOK!

I have spent the last two months spinning so that I can keep up my cardio while waiting for my foot to heal.  In the meantime I have been missing my runs, which is ironic because when I'm running, I'm wishing that I could stop and give up.  One of the things that came to light is that I have been running to lose the baby weight, I wasn't necessarily running because I enjoyed it. I don't enjoy it because I hurt. My knees hurt, I can barely get out of bed some mornings because my knees hurt so much, and my feet hurt, etc., etc. I want to enjoy my run. Again, I love finishing a run and feeling like I've conquered the world.  However, If I run because I find it enjoyable, then I would not only lose the baby weight, I'd get rid of the "I just want to be done" feeling.

In reading the book I found out that our bodies were built for running. That our shoes actually prevent us from running the way we were meant to run. According to the local running store I'm an over pronator who needs a stability shoe. (Read: I'm too fat to run in good form. Yes, in my research as to why I have injuries, my tendency to over pronate, and the kind of shoe that will work for me, I found out that really, I'm an overweight runner. And I am. I'm probably a good 20 pounds overweight and only 5 of those pounds can be attributed to the last of the baby weight).  Anyhow, in reading Born to Run, I realized I can be a better runner, enjoy running, and have less injury if I learn how to run they way we are supposed to run.

My husband thinks they look like alien feet :)

So what did I do? I joined the barefoot running revolution. This past weekend I bought my first pair of Vibram 5 Fingers (V5F) running shoes and I am so excited. It is a completely different approach to running. I have to unlearn the last 34 years of running.  I have to go S-L-O-W in order to strengthen my feet. It's kind of hard to do since all I want to do is run, run, run. It is highly recommended to make the transition slowly between "traditional" running shoes and running barefoot.  Follow the Vibram 5 Fingers training plan.  It's good to start how this way. With coming back from an injury I thought it would be a good time to learn how to run barefoot. So here I go. I'll keep you up to date on my progress. So far I've just been walking around the house in my V5F getting used to wearing them and I've been running in my backyard completely barefoot with nothing but the soles of my feet touching the dewey grass. I'm nervous and excited all at the same time.   If you wear V5F or are a barefoot runner, let me know what you think. I'd love to read your comments and learn from you.

Happy Trails!

Wha? Did you say size 8?

I've been on this weight loss journey FOREVER!  However, no matter how hard I tried I couldn't shake off the baby weight from my first baby who is now four.  I would work out hard and not see any difference and become very frustrated.  I also love reading Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series. She has one character, Lulu who cracks me up. She's always described as a larger than life woman.  I always laughed when I read about how she squeezes her large body in her spandex outfits...until one day the author listed the character's size/weight and I realized that was me! Not the squeezing into spandex part, but the large part. OMG I was Lulu!  I realized right then and there that I had to do something about my weight.

Before I became pregnant with Buggy I convinced my husband to let me spend the extra money and try Nutrisystem. Working full-time I wasn't able to make it to the gym very much but I was able to use the Nutrisystem meal plan. I lost 2-3 pant sizes and was within 10 pounds of making it to my pre-baby weight. However, it still meant that I was a big girl. Just slightly less big.  It also meant that I was tied to the NS meals and didn't know if I could lose the weight if I went off the program.

When I became pregnant with baby #2, gained 45 pounds during my pregnancy and had to start all over again. However, I walked everyday the last 3 months of my pregnancy and I think that is why I lost more weight initially than I had when I had my son.  I still had 15 lbs. to go before I hit my pre-pregnancy weight with Baby #2. But I hit the "wall" and couldn't do it. I was at the gym everyday. I was taking classes. I was doing everything right or so I thought. In chatting with one of the trainers, she told me that she noticed I was having trouble and lectured me about my eating habits. She was absolutely right and I had to hear it. She recommended that I go to a site that helped me to count my calories and determine what I was eating. It was basically an on-line calorie counter. I did and I have since lost 22 pounds and 3 pant sizes since November.

I've stalled a couple of times, got back to it and have started losing again. My goal is to be at least 1 lb. below my pre-pregnancy weight with baby #1 before trying for baby #3, be healthier, NOT to be diagnosed with diabetes, to be able to keep up with my kids, and run races.   Being a SAHM I just can't afford the pricey programs. Using The Daily Plate I've been able to watch my calories, type in gym routines and see how many calories I've burned, and keep on track with my weight loss. So far so good! I'm not quite where I want to be. According to the BMI I need to lose another 17-20 pounds to be at a healthy weight.  Which I will do eventually.  But at least I know that I can do it!

Last week I ran 5-miles outside for a practice run for this week's race. It's amazing what good shoes, an asthma inhaler, and losing 20+ pounds will do for your run. In practice I've already shaved about 8 minutes from last year's race time. I hope I can do it on Saturday :)  Wish me luck!

Game On, wait Game Off, No, Game On!

Thanks for the blog title, Jessica.  So in thinking about having baby #3, it's been on my mind a lot.  Especially now that I have lost all of the baby weight from both kids, I feel like it's time to start trying if I'm going to try. No sense in waiting for the the littlest one to be out of diapers for a while to try this thing again. At least I'll still be in the habit of changing diapers.

Sitting in Church yesterday I watched my son go in to give his sister a little hug and a tiny push, enough to send her off the pew and onto her back on the hard cement floor. Doh! He was on his stomach on the pew behind me and the hubby. I said, "Jeez!" grabbed his legs and slid him to me. My daughter is crying and Hubby is trying to console her. Boogie is seeing this and saying, "I want Daddy to hold me." Um, not a chance Buddy, you just knocked your sister off the pew and she's crying. He ended up being held by me for the next ten minutes. I could tell he felt bad. As I'm holding him, and listening to her cry, I'm thinking, this is exactly why I'm not ready for a third. Game off!

Buggy stops crying but now has a lovely red line from her bottom lip to the end of her chin. We don't know how she got it, but she got in in the process of falling off the pew.  I'm thinking, how in the world can I do this? There is no way we can handle a third. Right now it's man to man. I got one, you've got one. If we have a third it's all about zone, baby.  Someone is always going to be outnumbered and I have a feeling it's going to be me.

As the sermon continues and Buggy is sitting peacefully in her father's arms, my son gets off my lap, walks over to her, and then gives her several kisses on the face. Light, sweet kisses.  Guess what? Game on!