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!

5:30am

This is what time I've been at the gym, in my seat and spinning. It's crazy.  My husband isn't even up yet and I dress in the dark, grab my water, and go.  Class has started by the time my husband's alarm has gone off. I'll will probably have been spinning for about 15 minutes by the time he rolls out of bed.  Crazy!

So I've done for two mornings now. It's a little weird too know that I've done more in the last 3 hours than I  usually do...all with the kids still asleep.  Yesterday was my first day taking an early morning class.

 I was so tired by 2pm and barely standing when my husband came home.  Usually my hubby is home by 6:30 and I'm ready to hand off the kids, have dinner on the table, eat dinner,  and then get a few minutes of "me" time while he does the bedtime routine before I go up to join them for bedtime prayers. "Me" time usually entails me cleaning up from dinner while listening to the radio or a book on CD. I'm totally okay with this. It's my time to zone out, bop along to music, or catch up on my "reading" without stopping to attend to someone else. Last night Hubby had to work late and didn't get home until after 7:30pm.  I had just finished getting my daughter ready for bed when he walked in the door. I was totally done by then.  Getting up at 4:30am makes Discombobulated Mommy a very tired mommy.

One of the neat things I got to see last night was the way that my kids greeted my husband. Usually I'm trying to get dinner on the table and I basically shoo them all out of the kitchen so that I can get things done in 5 minutes instead of 20.  Last night my husband came up the stairs, I heard my son shriek with glee, "Daddy, Daddy, Daddy!"  My daughter came to the top of the stairs and sat down on the top step, patted the area next to her and said, "sit."  Which he did.  Then my son came bolting up the stairs and landed in my husband's lap and gave him a huge hug and my daughter followed suit and tried to share the lap and wrapped her arms around him, too.  There was my husband, sitting on the stairs, and covered in love...his head sticking out between the two heads. It was really sweet and I know that my husband loved being greeted with so much enthusiasm.

5:30 is a difficult thing time for me to get things done, but it might work out for us in the long run. I am able to get more things done during the day while still getting my work out in.  I don't know how long I will be able to sustain this kind of lifestyle, but I'll try it for now...if I'm still standing ;)