Marathon Mommies

Look at some of this cute stuff I found while surfing around on running blogs. What do you think? Should I order the decals? And which shirt?

You can customize this decal with the number of kids you have. What do you say Maria? Should we tell the world we are Marathon Mommies? I love that it has the kids running behind the mom. Taylor has been wanting to run lately. I will take her up to the school parking lot and she runs laps around while wearing my GPS watch, she loves to keep track of her time, and distance. We even got her some running clothes. ;) Morgan gets so angry because she can't keep up, she ends up sitting on the sidewalk crying her eyes out.
Which shirt do you all think I should get?

You can find these items at the Marathon Mommy blog spot, click here.

10 Reasons Why Running is Better then Reality TV

I found this on one of the Running sites I frequent. I thought it was funny. I changed Numbers 8, 6, 4 and 3, because his were lame and I made it a bit more personal.

10 Reasons why Running is better then Reality TV

10) At the end of my run I don't have three judges telling me how bad my form was.
9) My "catwalk" has cobblestones and is covered with trees.
8) I don't have 10-12 other competitors planning my eviction, I choose when I am finished.
7) My runs have never been "a little pitchy, dog."
6) In my running world I can Out wit, Out last and Out play my last race, or bad running day.
5) Sometimes there are more interesting freaks on the road than on TV...now that's reality!
4) I am never "Eliminated from The Race" unless I choose to be.
3) The "Stars I Dance" with are my 7 & 3 year old when I walk in the door from a long run.
2) Hell's Kitchen is running on a July day in my neighborhood.

and, the number one reason running is better than reality TV...
1) No Simon Cowell!!!

I have to admit though, and don't boo me of stage, but I have kind of missed Simon. I am looking forward to a new season of American Idol.

Here is a list of some of my favorite Reality shows I watch:
* The Biggest Loser
* Survivor
* Dancing with the Stars
* The Amazing Race
* The Bachelor (ette)
* Big Brother
* The Next Food Net work Star
I know I need to get help.

New Rules of Lifting for Women

My friend Wendy told me about this book called "New rules of lifting for women". I have not read it yet, but she has. I ordered mine and it should be here next week. We are going to follow this three day lifting plan, we start Monday. I will let you all know how the book is and how the works outs are.

Also, if you look at my side bar you will see that I have a "How many can you do?" badge. I found this link on one of the running sites I read, and this man started a 100 push-ups plan. After you take the initial test, you figure out where you are and which plan will work best for you. Then you follow his 6 week plan and by the 7Th week you should be able to finish 100 push-ups with minimal rest breaks. I am starting mine on Monday. He claims it is a great work out because, it is free, it works your upper body and it works your core, and hello..... I need all the work to my core as possible.

Finding the REAL me.....

I read an awesome post on another Runner's blog. She referred to building a running life to building a house. I feel like she wrote it just for me, so to give you a better idea, I just went ahead and posted her words exactly.

"Back in January, I received a wonderful email from a woman named Susan. She was writing to tell me that she had just started running and while looking for inspiration she had come across my blog. She made a comment in the email about wondering if she was "built" for the whole running thing.In my response to her, I made the analogy that building a running life is just like building a house. We need to lay a good strong foundation, pick a design that works for for each of us individually, and make the framework solid. Then we can mix and match to suit our styles - change the wall color, change the flooring - whatever we want. Sometimes things break during the building process, and that's OK...because as long as we tend to the leak before the roof caves in, we can still keep building. If we don't tend to the leak, we may have to postpone the project longer than we wanted to or worse, start rebuilding from the ground up.

I have recently found myself strengthening my weakened foundation.Over the past year, it was all I could do to maintain the rough framework of my running 'house.' At the end of May, I began to thicken the layers, slowly adding pieces back on. Twelve weeks in to the process, and I'm beginning to resemble the runner I used to know. I've still got lots of construction ahead of me, but I'm ready to roll up my sleeves and swing the hammer a little harder.

I hope you can take your time building *your* house and make your love affair with running last a lifetime. Be inspired by other 'home owners' - but don't get caught in the trap of comparing yourself to others. You do what you can do, do what's right for your 'home' and the rest will fall in to place."

So there you have it.... This blog is intended to track my process, good or bad, to the runner I use to be. I have never stopped running completely, or stopped thinking about when or where the next marathon would be, but I have lost the REAL runner in me this summer. My plan is to somehow find her again before it is to late. To late for what you ask? Before I forget what it felt like to cross the finish line in the Boston Marathon. Before I forget the sound of my own shoes pounding out the pavement. Before I forget what it feels like after waking up at 5am and heading out the door when it feels like you are the only one awake. Before I forget what it feels like after you have just run 20 miles on a Saturday morning.

Now you might ask.... Why do you want to remember that? Well My Friends, because it is what makes me, me. And I feel that somehow with this move to Ky, I have lost that part of me, and to be honest, I think it is my favorite part of who I am.

How bad do I Suck?

So this morning the Alarm goes off, I hit snooze once and then jumped out of bed. I was pretty excited to get out and run in the fresh Kentucky air. It has cooled off alot and I was excited to not feel so much hot humidity. I get dressed, throw my cute Boston '08 hat on, and head to the Kitchen. I take my three ibuprofen that I always down right before I run. My GPS is ready to go and so am I. I unlock the door and walk out onto the front porch. The first thing I notice is that is is REALLY chilly, and then I notice it is REALLY dark and then I notice it is REALLY Foggy. You know in the movies that take place in the deep South, and the camera will scan over a farm or empty Field and there is a layer of misty fog? That is what it felt like. Except it DID NOT feel peaceful. To be Honest I was a bit creeped out, and since I Don't have my pepper spray yet, I started to feel all panicky. I have developed this somewhat new thing for me since moving to Kentucky, and it is called Anxiety. I get it over the strangest things, like going to Wal-mart, talking on the phone, going to Church, and I guess running in the misty Fog. So I turned around and went back up to bed for thirty minutes until it was time to get Taylor ready for school. I went to the gym at 8:30 and suffered through another 4 miles on the treadmill and then lifted my legs.

THE END!

Monday's Run....

I set my alarm to go off at 5:55 AM, and it went off when it was suppose to. However, I didn't check it last night to see if the volume was up. The girls watched a movie on my room last night and I think my cute little 3 year old played with my alarm clock. So by the time I woke up and looked at the clock I didn't have time to get out the door and have a decent run before i had to wake up the 7 year old and get her ready for school and out the door. ( she wakes at 7 and out the door at 7:30) So I went to the YMCA and ran 3 miles on the treadmill. They have child watch which starts at 8:30. So little Morgie and I make it there about then. I usually don't mind running on the treadmill, I think it is the lazy part of me, but the YMCA here is so HOT. There are no fans to circulate the air and I feel like I am going to DIE. UGH... Oh well, at least I got a few miles in, RIGHT?

My new Purchase's

I just want to share some of my new purchases I made last night. I buy most of my running shoes, apparel and items from RunningWarehouse.com.

I bought this super nice Waterproof Jacket. I need one big time here in Kentucky. It rains alot more then in Utah, and when it rains here, boy does it rain.

I usually run in The Mizuno Creation, but decided to go back to the Asics Gel, and give it another try. I found these in Pink.

I use to always run with a thing of pepper spray around my hand, but earlier this year while training for The Boston Marathon, It slipped out and I never saw it again. I decided I needed to purchase another one.

When I am running a long run, i will drink both water and Gatorade. I have heard about this Accelerade, and decided to give it a try. It is suppose to help speed recovery.

And then for fun, I got this cute T-Shirt to wear around and lounge in. I don't have a close family member or friend that has gone through Breast Cancer, but someday I might. I want to show my support today.

Running Far and Strong

This is going to be a blog for me to post all of my running thoughts, efforts, accomplishments, and races. Running is on my mind 24/7, yet I never blog about my running on our Family blog. I think the reason for this is because I am certain that all though my readers love the fact that I run, they don't want to hear about it all the time. They would rather know what is going on with the girls and the fun and silly things they say. So I have started this blog for....me, and for anyone who wants to know what I think about when I run, or why I love it so much. I am hoping that having to post my miles, times, and efforts, I will be more motivated to keep up my running. Since moving to Ky, I have only run a handful of times. It is not because I don't LOVE it anymore, it is not Cause I don't want to. I simply have fallen out of the habit of early morning runs, because I haven't been training for a marathon this summer, which I usually do. And being that I AM NOT a morning person, getting back into the habit with out a running buddy (I miss you Mindy) to meet up with at 5:30 AM, makes it incredibly hard to roll out of bed and run in a new town, with new roads, the humidity and loneliness. I am determined to get my lazy arse back out the door no later then 6:00 Am every morning. After I do it for a week straight, I will be in more of a habit. So wish me luck....