Cute, cute, cute

My youngest is normally a delight to be around. She makes everyone smile. But occasionally she is extra cute.

Today, she came up to me and said, "Mommy, Sissy and I have  decided not to fight anymore. We're going to talk about our problems." My thought was somewhere along the lines of "yeah, right."

Then this evening I was telling Dale about our Bible class while she was playing with her blocks. She said, "Mount Si-my won't stay together!" She was building Mount Sinai. Lol. Cute baby girl. 

Have a good night. 

Hugs,

Melinda

I have a headache

Let's get this straight. I love Coca-Cola.

But I've known for a while it's not good for me.

I've tried to change my ways. It started when I joined Weight Watchers. I tried drinking Coke Zero. Unfortunately, aftera year  the aspartame got to me. I knew I was in trouble when I started waking up with headaches. And when no ibuprofen  with take care of them. So I tried to limit my soda intake. 

One way I thought about dealing with the headaches, the horrible caffeine withdrawal headaches, maybe I should start drinking coffee! I never have more than one cup of coffee in a day, right? Surely that wouldn't be a problem, right? 

So why am I getting a caffeine withdrawal headache tonight after having a cup of coffee this morning? 

I decided to turn to my friend, Google. I asked the question "what has the most caffeine?" I discovered this table.  

An 8 ounce cup of coffee has 145 mg of caffeine. A 12 ounce cup? 34. 

So the question becomes am I trying to avoid caffeine or sugar? If caffeine, then I need to go back to drinking Coke. If sugar, then I'm going to continue drinking coffee. 

What would you do? 

Hugs,

Melinda

Days without soda: 0
Bike miles: 16.04
Running miles: 15

48 days left til race day!

P.S.  I'm taking at least 2 days off of running in order to ease my shin splints.  I have a wonderful husband who allowed me to purchase some new shoes.  Hopefully that will help, but otherwise, I'm resting.

I AM a runner!

Merriam-Webster defines a runner in the following way.

Definition of RUNNERa : one that runs 

And it defines a jogger like this.

Definition of JOGGERa : to run or ride at a slow trotb : to go at a slow, leisurely, or monotonous pace : trudge

Jogging... a slow trot.  A slow leisurely pace.  Well, I may be slow, but I am not running leisurely, by any means of that word!

I've noticed that I have to work hard not to be jealous when people get on Facebook and say, "I ran 6 miles, I ran 8 miles, I ran 13 miles."  It's hard for me to say, "I ran 3.5 miles," because I want to say, "I ONLY ran 3.5 miles."

But let's get this straight.....  I RAN 3.5 MILES!  Back when I started in Jan/Feb, I could barely run 1/4 of the time that I was doing 1.5 miles.  I am now doing more than I ever believed or ever thought I could do!

Am I still learning?  Yes.  Am I still struggling?  Yes.

But you know what?  I am a runner!

Hugs,
Melinda

Days without soda: 1
Bike miles: 16.04
Running miles: 15

49 days left til race day!

P.S. Hopefully I'll be able to add bike miles again this week.

Ouch!

Okay, first off, I'm sorry I didn't post yesterday.  I didn't run.  My bed was so comfortable, I just didn't want to get up.

Today, however was a different story.  I needed to get up and run.  My legs needed it.

I had downloaded the Nike+ app for my phone, because the group I'm part of on Facebook, everyone was adding each other as friends.  I wanted to use that app more than anything.  So, when I woke up around 5:15 and realized I wasn't going back to sleep, I got up, and got ready.

Oddly, I beat Dale out of the house this morning.

I tried a new route today, as well.  Running around the block is okay, but it's kind of boring after a while, and it doesn't develop the right muscles all the time.  I'm sure I'll still do it, but I'm going to try to start adding distance.

My original idea for this route was right at a mile to and from the house.  Then I added this little section, and made it just a bit over 2 miles.  While I was out running today, I thought, "what if instead of turning here, I kept going this way?"  And I ended up at just almost 3 miles.

I'm sorry, I just realized I'm rambling.  On to the ouch.

I thought I had stretched well.  I wasn't hurting very badly this morning before I started.  I really thought I had stretched.  I ran almost a whole half mile.

Then the pain started.  Shin splints.  Painful shin splints.

If anyone can give me a great stretch for shin splints, I would love to hear it.  About the only thing I have found is lifting my knee at a 90 degree angle and rotating my foot.  It HURTS.

But I needed to keep running.  After all, I've got a race in 51 days.

So, I decided to walk for 10 seconds.  And then run for 10 seconds.  And then walk again.  On and on until I got through the run.

Granted, my legs don't hurt as bad now, but they are still painful.

But a new route, a new app, a new pain technique were all on the menu today.

Let's see what tomorrow brings.  Happy running!
Hugs,
Melinda

Days without soda: 4
Bike miles: 16.04
Running miles: 11.51

51 days left til race day!

Odd Week

So, this week, my oldest, Boo, has been attending a computer app development camp.  It's a girls only camp this week.  Dale wanted her to attend so that at the very least, she has an basic understanding and knowledge of how computers work.  She has to be there at 8:30 am.  Since we normally start school around 9:00, and since we aren't normally traveling 30 minutes away, that pushes my exercise into a smaller narrow time frame.

Which means I haven't ridden my bike this week.  :(

It also means that I haven't been keeping up with Little Bit's school work very well either.  Hopefully, we can get on a good solid schedule next week, when camp is over.

At least I'm still running every other day.  Speaking of, I joined a group on Facebook called the Women's Running Club.  It has been wonderful.  There are all kinds of runners, and they give so much advice.  Like today, everyone started talking about the Nike+ app.  I haven't even used it yet, and I have 25 friends!  I really appreciate everyone there.

Well, I need to go.  I've got a few chores to do before we go pick up Boo.  Have a good day everyone, and remember, no matter how slow you go, you are still lapping everyone on the couch!  : D

Hugs,
Melinda

Days without soda: 2
Bike miles: 16.04
Running miles: 8.56

53 days left til race day!

It's the little things

Dale forgot his phone, so we're back at his office. Before he got out, he turned the car around, so I wouldn't sunburn. 

Sometimes it's the little things that count.

Hugs,

Melinda 

Personal Best

I had a good run this morning.  I was up and ready to go (after hitting the snooze button only once), I had a good warm-up lap, and stretched really well.  Then I took off.

I actually felt like a runner today.  I didn't have little bitty strides, but nice long ones.  I was going faster than normal.  I actually ran up the hill instead of walking up it.

And I got my fastest mile yet.  13:12!

And I started thinking about something.  I'm a really competitive person, but I'm learning to only compete against myself.  I got my fastest mile today.  Thursday, I can try for 13 minutes flat.  There's really no stopping how much I can compete against myself, because I can only continually improve.  The only time I could stop is maybe if I went to the Olympics, and since that probably won't happen, I'll be able to keep working and improving.

So, all that to state, my competition is myself.

And myself did good today.  : D

Hugs,
Melinda

Days without soda: 1
Bike miles: 16.04
Running miles: 8.56

54 days left til race day!

Do nothing day

Today, I did nothing for exercise.  I slept so long yesterday afternoon, that I stayed up too late last night, which meant that I "slept in" this morning.  And I'm so exhausted.  I'll do better tomorrow.

Days without soda: 0  :(
Bike Miles:  16.08
Running Miles: 6.44

55 days left!

First Group Run

Today was my first group run ever.  I was so nervous about what to expect that I didn't get to sleep until around 11:00 last night.  And then up at 6 this morning.  And of course, I tossed and turned, and my leg tried to cramp up on me.

We met at my favorite trail, and I met a whole bunch of people, and I only remember three names.  lol  We had water at 1 mile and 2 miles, which was the turnaround point.  My ankles always bother me for about the first mile or so.  I had compression sleeves on, and that seemed to help a bit.

Silly me, I thought a group run meant we would run together.  Nope.  I didn't even bring my earbuds.  Most everyone else took off.  There was a girl who looked like she was struggling at the same pace I go, so I tried to run with her.  She's 6'2" and a (non-practicing) lawyer.  She was going to turn around at a mile, but I kept pushing her to go just a bit further.  We ended up running the whole thing, even if it was a bit slower than I wanted to go.

When I got home, I realized I had a heat rash, got a really quick shower, ate a really quick breakfast, and went to church.  After church and lunch and an episode of Merlin, I fell asleep.  I'm not really sure how long my nap was, but I woke up around 7 pm.

And now, I'm trying to decide if I want to rest tomorrow, or bike around the neighborhood.  I don't know.

All in all, it was a good day.
Hugs,
Melinda

Days without soda: 9
Bike Miles:  16.08
Running Miles: 6.44

56 days left!

Habit

So this new habit of posting every day that I exercise is going to be somewhat difficult to remember for a while.

For example, I didn't exercise yesterday because I felt sick to my stomach.  So I didn't exercise and I forgot to post.

Today, Dale and I went on a bike ride as part of our "date night" that we were too tired to do last night.  We went to my favorite trail and rode a part Dale has never been down before.  A total of 8.04 miles.  Then we went to look at the Trek store, and then brunch at Chick-Fil-A, and then a swing by the running store so I could get some compression sleeves.  All in all, a great date.  :)

Tomorrow is my first group run ever.  I am extremely nervous about it.  Guess where it's at?

The bike trail we went down this morning.  Which also happens to be the bike trail I went down Wednesday.  Monday, I'm going to the top of the trail and riding down.  lol

Okay, I can't stay long.  It's late, and I've got a run in the morning.  Night!

Days without soda: 8
Bike Miles:  16.08
Running Miles: 2.24

57 days until race day!

What I've learned this morning.

First things first....

59 days til the race!

Okay, now that's out of the way.  *whew*

So, I meant to write this post about an hour ago, but as luck would have it, I got distracted.  (Squirrel!)

I am not a morning person at all.  Let me sleep as long as possible, please.  But you need to stay up til midnight?  I'm your gal.

I have to run in the mornings.  I don't like the mornings, but I like running in the heat and humidity even less, so I run in the mornings.

Dale decided that he wanted to try "Barefoot Running" today.  And of course, he wanted me to go with him and he didn't want to run on the road but on a track.  I don't blame him.  I wouldn't want to run barefoot on our road either.

Lesson #1:  I think I like running on our road because it takes so much time to drive anywhere that it's not hardly worth it.

Lesson #2: I think I have to run for myself and not for anyone else.  If Dale wants to run, fine.  Barefoot, fine.  At the track, fine.  I have to run for me, the way I want/need to.

So, Dale ran a couple of laps, and then developed a blister on his toe, which of course meant he wanted to leave.  We got home, and I woke Boo up.

We've all had colds this past week and a half.  This was our first day of running since last week.  Today's run for both Boo and myself were supposed to be easy no pressure runs.  I told her she could walk when needed, to take it easy.

Lesson #3: It takes a long time to recover your fitness level after being sick.

We have a neighbor around the corner who likes to walk his dogs around the same time we run.

Lesson #4: I can be friendly without stopping to chat, because I need to maintain my pace.

We've also been playing in our garden.  I planted basil.  A LOT of basil.  I don't know why I planted so much, but I've been able to get almost 4 cups every time I go out to my garden (about twice a week).  So, I give it away, I use it, and I dry it.

Did you know you can microwave your basil to dry it?  You put it between two sheets of paper towels and zap it a minute at a time.  Usually 2-3 minutes does the trick.  You can also dry it in the oven.

Lesson #5: Microwave dried basil looks a whole lot prettier than oven dried basil.

Well, it's time for recess now.  The girls have gone upstairs to play.  I think I'm going to try to catch a 10 minute nap.  Getting up early has made me sleepy.

I've always maintained that you can learn anything at anytime.  It's when you stop learning that you need to watch out for.  And I hope that in homeschooling my daughters, that they learn to love learning as well.  Remember, the only stupid question is the unasked one.

Hugs,
Melinda

Last soda drunk: 7/12/13
Bike Ride: 8.04
Running: 2.24

59 days til race day!

I may be insane

Well, for lack of better words, I may be insane.  I did something crazy last night.  I signed up for a 10K.  (For those of you who don't know, 6.2 miles.)  I signed up for The Plaza 10K.  I'm still not sure why.  But I did.  So between homeschooling, and training, and starting a new "unofficial" homeschool support group, I'm going to be one busy bee.

But I'm going to try to post records of my training, so that I can keep myself on track.

I'm also training to be able to ride The Katy Trail next year.  We've got a friend who's done it before, and may be interested in doing it next year.  Dale is on his bike 3 times a week, 15 miles one way.  I need to be able to keep up.

This morning's training was a bike ride.  I went out to Little Blue Trace, and rode out 4 miles and in 4.  I could have gone longer, my legs felt great.  But my butt started hurting.  I think the last time I adjusted my seat, I put it too far forward.  I'm taking "Navi" in this afternoon to see if I can get a little adjustment.

I may be insane, but at least it's going to be a healthy insane.

Hugs,
Melinda

Last Soda Drunk: 7/12/13
Bike Ride: 8.04 miles
Countdown: 60 days til 10K