Hurts So Good

I feel old.

Friday
I was invited for a girls night out. I forewarned them it would be an early night because I had a 1.5 hr drive to my run in the morning...already the fuddy duddy. We started at BJ's for dinner at 8:00, but I had already eaten dinner at 6:00 with my family, because I am old. While the group had dinner and foofy drinks, I had a couple beers, fries & dessert. To my credit, I drank Jerry Bursts, which is a beer & berry cider blend, kinda foofy. After dinner was supposed to be bar hoping time...great. I don't mind going to a bar, but bar hoping? Lets pick one place & kick it old school... I'm not much of a dancer anyway. Any how, I couldn't get into it and was home by 11:30, just enough time to get 5 hrs sleep before my run. Did I mention I am old?

Saturday

• Run. (Race report below)
• Belated Bday party for my rock star cousin who is kicking cancers ass. She couldn't do a bday party back in December because of radiation. She looked great! She's still in high school and usually kids who face big challenges loose their youthfulness. I was so relieve to see her in age appropriate spirits. A true credit to her strength and her family's support.
• Disney on ice. Great tickets acquired because of a friends unfortunate circumstance forced her to ditch them. *Disney On Ice characters seriously got a Beatles like reception from an arena full of children. Totally surreal?! The Duder (my son) hasn't even seen the cartoons represented in the show, but he had fun. We only stayed for the first half to keep up the bed time schedule.
• By 9:00 I had bonked. Literally, could not stay awake to save my life... or more importantly nurse my 3 month old to sleep. Took some hubby intervention. I need to start sleeping more.

Sunday

• Didn't sleep well. 
• Stopped at the office to finish a few things, I really need to skip work on the weekends.
• Stopped at Bass Pro for my hubby, they had lite up firefly crocs for my son, couldn't quite bring myself to spend $30 on them though.
• Went to my nephew's bday party, got him a sweet ass Addidas outfit, total Beastie Boys uniform and only $15 bucks from Costco.
• Highlight: Hubby made delicious Tri-Tip sandwiches. OMG sooo good.

When did weekends turn into sleep schedules, running errands and never ending bday parties? Every weekend there seems to be a party or an event that requires our attendance. I hate feeling pressured into a schedule. I like to schedule don't get me wrong, I just don't like other people or events dictating my schedule. I never seem to be able to fit in my me time with out cutting into something else like family or sleep.

Ok, enough about old. And more about being lazy. The laptop making me into a couch potato idea has come to true. I should blog more and do my social networking crap, but instead I am completely hooked on Dexter, a TV show about a serial killer. I literally wake up and watch it while pumping for my baby in the morning. Then I find myself eager to watch once the kids are in bed. It helps that I have never seen the show so my online netflix allows me to jump right in with the first episode. I am already most of the way through season 2. I need a new show since this is LOSTS last season and once again I didn't get the answers I was promised. I did however develop more questions. Dang it.

Ok, so here's the race report:

Friday Night:
You saw my pre-race meal: Beer, Fries and cookie & ice cream pazooki from BJ's.

Saturday Morning:

• Ate one of my oatmeal concoctions & I drank about 12 oz of water on the drive to Marin. 
• Picked up my cousin RA and got to the race about 1 minute before they started. I still had to put shoes on, so RA went and grabbed our numbers. 
• We started about 3 minutes behind everyone else. 
• The first mile had an elevation gain of about 1000 ft. It was a pretty steady climb, but I was so out of shape I had no lung capacity to run it. Hell of a hike though. 
• Once we hit the top there were some nice flats, wicked down hills and a few subtle climbs. The finish was an easy straight away. We definitely should of signed up for the longer distance. When we finished, I felt like I was ready to get started. During the run I was getting the worst side stitches. Mile 2-3 was the worst and the remaining mileage was dull and aching. Partly this has to do with being out of shape and partly with the lack of support my sports bra give me during the  jostling downhills.
• Finishing time was not so important this time around, but for inquiring minds is was about an 1:14 minutes. While it was a 5 mile race, I would guess realistically we spent at least 20 minutes hiking the first mile.
• We wrapped things up with a lower leg dip in the ocean. Nothing like ice cold water to speed recovery. I knelt down to give my knees a cold session and got complete drenched in a wave. Good times.
• Post race meal: Spinach and Jack Cheese omlet, rye toast and way to many bites of the shared blueberry pancakes. Will definitely hit that breakfast place next month when I go back to Marin for a 20K.

Sunday the aching, throbbing muscle soreness was amazing. I actually didn't want to run because it felt so good. Every muscle in my feet got a work out from the technical portions of the course. The muscles between my ankle and calves all the way around were tender. I know being a weekend warrior isn't a good thing, especially if I want to improve my racing abilities, but it sure does feel awesome to recover. The pain seriously hurts so good:)

Tomorrow, I am ready for a double....kind of. I will be running in an event that offers a 1 mile run at 8:30 and an 8K at 9:00. For $5.00 extra you can sign up for both. I am gonna try and go for it during the 1 mile to see how I do, then join a friend for an easy 8K. Then I am up for more pain... in a good way, get your minds out of the gutter folks. I am getting a deep tissue massage tomorrow afternoon as a treat.

Still feeling old, but I love my little painful, sore and throbbing moments of feeling young because I run. I actually have the "Hurts so Good" song stuck in my head. Come on baby make it hurt so good, some times love don't feel like should so baby, hurt so good." I have no idea if these are the actual lyrics, but they are the ones I sing and thats what's important.

The Favorites and Not so Favorites this Week

So Yay! I am playing on my new lap top. As you can see my blog background has changed and I have a cute blinking thing on the side bar too!

I am super excited and bummed all at the same time. I registered for a great trail run this Saturday in the Marin Headlands, but bummed because I tweaked my back at work yesterday/today and couldn't run today. I am not a big fan of files, filing cabinets, new ergonomic chairs being delivered or the 57 boxes that were unloaded today as part of our workstation replacement. Seriously, moving boxes etc.. is not my favorite workout. Good news is that my run is only a 5 mile run, I am going to have great company and it will probably rain. Trail runs in the rain=mud. Yippy, I can hardly contain my excitement. While it is only 5 miles, mud makes it feel super hard core.

New favorite things this week:

• My B Complex vitamins which have done wonders and I am only 3 days in. I feel energetic, focused and not having the bingey junk food cravings.
• Sobon Estate ReZerve 2005 Carignane....OMG soooooo good.
• Oatmeal. So I was reading a blog (sorry I don't remember which one) and the author talked about yummy oatmeal with peanut butter and chocolate chips. Then this month's Runner's World had an article about dressing up oatmeal as a good recovery meal. On the way to the snow Saturday we stopped at Jamba Juice and they had a new pecan & dried cherries oatmeal. I just couldn't get away from oatmeal. So I have been on a steel cut oats kick since then. Don't get the wrong "healthful" idea, I add so much stuff it is far from healthy. My favorite: Cinnamon, sugar, brown sugar, butter, pecans, dried blue berries, cherries and a medley of raisins. My son's favorite: peanut butter, bananas & pecans. Hubby: brown sugar & raisins
• Cracking the sleep routine code with my 3 month old. Yes she sleeps through the night, but we wanted to go from a 11:00/12:00 bed time to a 8:00/9:00 bed time. SUCCESS!
• Finally, yes, this lap top has made the favorites list.

Not my favorite this week:

• Getting a short 4-day week at work, only to feel 8 hours behind.
• Moving office crap and tweaking my back.
• The mean man in the middle lane that would speed up and slow down when I tried to pass or drop behind him to get to the slow lane and catch my exit. NOT COOL!
• Earl Grey Tea. I don't drink much caffeine. Coffee makes me shake like I'm strung out, but I enjoy a nice black tea every now & then. Earl Grey is officially not one of them. My fingers were shaking while typed at work yesterday and I had a lingering bitter taste on my teeth that no amount of brushing could get rid of. Sadly, I could get suckered into trying it again, I guess that is how addicts are created.
• That the final season of LOST is supposed to answer all my questions and yesterday's episode just left me with more.

Thanks for reading, I am hoping to have a "Registration Station" post soon with a list of my race registrations for the coming year. If they don't get on my calendar soon, I may find myself slacking even more with training or worse....risk the events filling before I can sign up.

Nighty Nite!

Way over budget

Ok, certainly the highlight of the weekend is my new MacBook. This is my first Mac so I am pretty excited to explore it's features. To validate this purchase I had to get online and share with my faithful followers (all four of you now, woo hoo!).

So what to say?

Wednesday Book Club/Girls night out at the Elephant Bar was super fun ...I swear we actually read. Two newbies came and both are fairly active. It was nice to hear about their interests in fitness and bond over mommy moments. I particularly like how we had a head lamp story in common. We talked about how the head lamp used to be for camping and early morning/late night runs. Now, we use our head lamps in bed to get some reading in without waking the husband or kids. Ha Ha, motherhood. Gear is good and so versatile!

Friday I took a few hours off from work because of some pre-planned child care issues. Lucky me, because not only did I get to hang out with by baby girl, I got to have sushi lunch with the hubby and go to the $.83 REI sale. Everything that ends in .83 is 50% off. I got new cycling capris, a couple sports bras, a really cute pair of TRI shorts and a fluorescent sleeveless vest. What is completely lame is I have not even taken my bike out for a spin yet this year and I am out buying gear.

I had a very nice family weekend. We took my son to the snow and he had a blast. For Valentine's Day I got flowers from both my boys (hubby & son) and a Star Wars music card to boot! Lucky me, my 2 year old let me read it (hear it) a bazillion times. My hubby made the most amazing dinner too, I was a complete glutton. Goodness, I am supposed to be losing weight and I am gaining. I went to the trainer last Monday and hadn't moved a single step since then until today at my trainer appt. Not a good start. I have a work meeting in a couple weeks I would like to slim down for. So before I allowed myself some play time on this new toy of mine, I made myself go for a run. It was 10:00 at night so I even got use out of that fluorescent jacket I bought Friday. The jacket is a Pearl Izumi and yes they probably would classify me as a jogger, but 50% off is 50% off. Ooh and I listened to my iPOD with my new iPhone workout arm band. Yes ladies and gentleman, I am now completely broke and have a nice little credit card payment to make....but totally worth it!

Ok, last thing. I learned something today that I hope I will use again. I had a choice to change up one of my practices. While I am effective at this practice there is room for efficiency. I looked at how both effectiveness and efficiency would be improved and ignored possible side effects. The reason I ignored the side effects was because something about them made the core of me feel funky. Sure enough I spent the week feeling anxious and couldn't figure out why. So today I listened to my intuition and decided that while more efficient and more effective sounded nice, the potential side effects or, "consequences" as the business world calls them, are just as important. The moment I decided that "if it ain't broke don't fix it," the anxiety completely went away. I have a job at work and a job at home as a wife & mother and sometimes I push toward efficient/effective when sometimes I should really weigh the side effects.

Good night bloggy bloggers and followers.

Going Public

So, this blog so far has been a way to get out some thoughts, the way people keep a diary. In keeping with that idea, I did not share this site with anyone, but my husband. Then someone randomly found my site and started following (Thank you). So for two months I have kept this blog a private/safe-haven for my thoughts. I think I am finally comfortable enough to start sharing. So tonight when I am done with this post, on Facebook this link shall go.

So what's new?

1. Um, not taking Weight Watcher's seriously. After my pulled muscle and a weekend of family outings & food, I just let myself fall off the wagon. Seriously thinking about getting back on track tomorrow....I know, I know why not start now? Because the Oreos in front of me while blogging won't let me.
2. I started reading my Run Less, Run Faster book, but have not finished yet. Good news is I am reading leisurely again after several months break. I Finished The Help and really enjoyed it. I'm currently reading The Wednesday Letters. I can't wait for my book club to get going again, first meeting back after 5 of us had Sept/Oct/Nov babies is this coming Thursday.
3. My baby has embraced the 8 hour night and taken it to the next level. This past weekend I got 2 nights of 13+ hours of sleeping straight through the night. Thank goodness!
4. I got the sports bras I ordered, Yay! Right? Wrong. They are not gonna work for me. Can I please get a follower who works for a major bra company who will come and custom make a sports bra that works? Hello? Anyone?
5. This blog is strictly supposed to be about me, me, me, exercise, some home life and never work. But just this once, UGH! Did I say that right? UGH! I love my job. Love, Love, Love it. But some days, I tell you what. I really pride myself on my leadership abilities and when someone doesn't recognize my complete awesomeness, well let's just say it's like I am talking to a Martian. Complete awesomeness may be overstating it a bit, but it's my blog. I have pretty low self-esteem in most areas of my life, but leadership? Damn it, I think I am pretty good at that. Thanks, I needed to vent.
6. I have not yet started the swim workouts. I don't really have a timeline as to when, but I should probably try and make it a priority now that I am getting sleep on a regular basis.
7. I have been going to the gym and taking Spin class on Sundays and MMA on Thursdays. Yup, you read that right, MMA, as in mixed martial arts. No I have no talents in punching or kicking anyone, but the class is organized in a high school basketball pre-season conditioning format. It's jam packed with jump roping, crab crawls, squat jumpy things and someone yelling at you the entire time to do things Better, Faster and Stronger. It's quite nostalgic if I do say so myself.
8. I went back to my trainer and have committed to a 1x a week work out. All I can say about that is, Ouch.
9. My hubby took 3 days to go Lake Tahoe for his annual boys Superbowl weekend. I need to plan a girls weekend somewhere awesome.
10. The Shamrock'n Half marathon sold out. I procrastinated on signing up. Can anyone say "Missed Opportunity?" Oh, well:) Now I just get to find a new run, one even more interesting than one that ends with green beer at the finish line. I am however registered for The Avenue of the Giants Half, pretty excited about this one.

I am glad to be blogging, it's been awhile. I hate sitting at this desk though. My job all week is to sit in an office chair in front of a computer. I am on a mission to get a lap top so that I can blog from the comfort of my couch or bed. I am certain I would blog more if I were more comfortable. I will probably be counter acting my effort to stop being a couch potato, but I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.

The Good Clothes & Patience

So I am a saver. Not quite a hoarder, but I certainly save more than I toss. Sometimes saving is good. For example, I did not take much vacation for 2 years so that I could have a long maternity leave using my saved sick and vacation time. Then there are the ridiculous things. I know I am not alone here when I say I save outfits. I'll want to wear a nice shirt and then decide the occasion is not worthy and I should save it for something better. This same shirt can go untouched in my closet for weeks. I know rationally that this shirt can be washed, but what if something great came up and it was in the laundry?

This same ridiculous logic has transcended going out clothes to workout clothes. Yes the girl who has trouble even working out consistently saves the "good" sports bras for the "good" workouts. I really must just make the events (going out or working out) all just be wonderful for what they are and worthy of the "good" outfits. The fact that I am going anywhere or working out at all should be occasion enough to be feel good in my good clothes.

Side Note:

I was sidelined (no pun intended) with a pulled tummy muscle. Really frustrating because I was on a workout roll and weight loss roll. I was very close to breaking the 200 lb mark. Tomorrow, I am going to try Spin Class, I feel like a week break is enough. Then again, I am notorious for being impatient. The reason I pulled a muscle in the first place is because I was doing too much too soon. Really, after a C-Section there is no reason to start ab specific workouts so early. Why didn't I listen to my Dr.? On the subject of patience, I have come to realize how much I have needed my workouts. I have been a grouch and completely lacked patience since I pulled my tummy muscle. I need to expend energy and maybe more importantly, get out of the house for me time...regularly.

Race Report for 01/10/10

So the main part of this post will be my Race Report from Sunday's 10K. Since Sunday, I have taken Monday & Tuesday off. Monday was necessary, my quads and hamstrings were killing me. Tuesday, I just didn't get to it...actually I skipped my scheduled lunch time gym workout for fajitas with my husband. Sooooo YUMMY! Tonight (Wednesday-I'm typing after midnight) I went to the gym and did a nice 3.5 mile run. It felt really good and I am feeling relaxed as I get ready for hopefully a very good nights sleep.

So to catch you up to speed, I returned to work full time Monday. Goodness was I dreading it. My now 11 week old had been on a crazy sleep non-schedule and I was getting maybe 3 hours at a time, with a 2 hour wake up then another 2-3 hours. Sure 5-6 hours of sleep is enough to function on, but it sure is hard when it not even 5 hours straight. Well my little bug slept 5 hours straight on Sunday night bless her heart. This meant I was pretty fresh for work Monday. I dropped off my son who had a mommy don't leave crying fit at day care, then had to rush when dropping off my infant for her very first time with non-family care. I guess it was my good fortune because I didn't have time to cry. So this family friend who is watching my little bug completely rocked the party. She kept our bug awake and entertained all day so we got 8+ hours of sleep Monday night. Woo Hoo! Tuesday, REPEAT. Yeah Baby! So while there was a scheduled swim workout Wednesday morning, I skipped it. I truly am coming to understand the value of sleep. That swim workout I missed is available every MON-WED-FRI. Who knows how long this great sleep schedule will last, I need to get caught up while I can.

RACE REPORT 01/10/10 CAL 10K

Pre-Race training:

2 miles roughly every other day with a nice session of Bowling as cross-training the night before. Note to self, get some sleep before a run. Bowling until 11PM almost convinced me to skip the run when I woke up Sunday.

Pre-Race meal:

Night before: 3 Blue Moon Belgian White beers, a philly cheese steak, fries, mozzarella cheese sticks and a shot called a Peanut Butter Jelly Shot. Tasted like a grape jolly rancher. I'm supposed to carbo load right?!

Morning of race:

Woke up and pumped (I am a nursing mom, you can't run with full jugs... just not a good idea)

Ate a slice of wheat bread with peanut butter and drank about 6 oz of water

Race:

I arrived about 25 minutes early (small race) warmed up by running to check-in and running back to the start about 1/4 mile (total)

Start:

Race started at 9:00. It was a flat course on rural roads. My goal was just to finish, I fully anticipated walking since it is my first run post-pardum. I started the GPS on my iPhone and plugged in one ear piece for some tunes and hit the road. I found myself coaching myself each mile marker to try and run without stopping. At the 3-mile marker I looked at my iPhone and it said I was at 38 minutes running a 13 minute mile pace. Sure enough I made it to mile 5 still running. At this point I seriously considered giving up and walking. Then, at the 1/2 mile to the finish mark I again thought about walking. Mentally I knew if I made it 5 1/2 miles, I could finish the full 6.2, but still the thought of walking was still on my mind. As I approached the finish I saw that the clock read 1:14:00. I had hope to come as close to 1:20 as possible and expected to go over even that number. I picked up the pace and finished at 1:14:46. I stopped the GPS on my iPhone and it read 5+ miles. This is a track and field certified course, so I know my phone is off and my 2 mile training runs were probably a little off, as well as my pace. I was clocking 13 minute miles coming into the race and ended up running a 12 minute mile pace.

There was a 10 mile main event and had a field of 192. I was only in the 10K. There were 62 people that showed up for the 10K, 33 were women. I was 26 out of 33 women. There were 6 in my age group 30-34 and I placed 3rd in my group. Overall I placed 52 out of 62. Hey, not being last is a major accomplishment. There are no awards for placing, just long sleeve T-Shirts for those who break 55 minutes. Not sure I'll ever get that fast.

Post-Race

I asked to sit with two women at the free brunch, as I had gone alone. Usually when I am alone I don't linger afterward, but today I wanted to make friends. I sat with a girl, 35, who had a PR and broke 55 minutes. Oddly, she was impressed with me for running so soon after pregnancy. Strange how each of us see accomplishments.

What's next? I'm looking for a few runs in February, but I am signing up for a half marathon in March, the Shamrock'n. Nothing like green beer after a race. I also got my Run Less Run Faster book in the mail yesterday so I am looking forward to that too.

Missed Opportunities. Oh well!

Missed Opportunities and how I handle them? Food and regret:) Sounds depressing I know, but I am fairly sure I am not alone on this one. Here's a recap of my week and how I plan on turning it around today. Yup, 8 days into the New Year and I have already been faced with some challenges. In my defense I am coming off 10 weeks of maternity leave and am trying to balance going back to being a working & nursing mom, with trying to get back to a more athletic and healthy self.

I hadn't noticed the concept of missed opportunities, until my husband pointed it out. If something doesn't go as planned, instead of rolling with it or changing it up, I tend to deem it a missed opportunity and beat myself up about not making better decisions. The truth is, these "missed opportunities" are just life. Many of the events are so insignificant you will laugh that I am even hard on myself for them. Just read Wednesday's traffic situation later in this post. I mean really, could I have predicted traffic? Nope, but I found a way to be upset at myself for skipping the gym and getting stuck in traffic.... like it was a Karma thing or something. Life is about choices and this year I hope I can improve how I deal with the consequences of my decisions no matter how insignificant the repercussion. Think, "don't sweat the small stuff" as a theme. I think, "oh well" might be my new motto so I can just move on. Thoughts?

So I skipped Sunday's 5K so run with a friend who then flaked on me. Did I run on my own? Nope. Did I have the time and my husband to watch the kids? Yup. Missed Opportunity.

I ran Monday so I didn't feel guilty about not running on Sunday. I figure every other day is still a good effort. Positive attitude right!

Tuesday, Woo Hoo, Big Day. I joined Delta Tri Club. I signed up and am excited to have a network of people who like to TRI. I am no where near the caliber of some of the folks in the group, but they have a mentoring program I am going to sign up for. I could use all the motivation I can get. There is a Master's swim coach on the team and he coaches early morning swims on Monday, Wednesday & Friday's. I had planned to go on Wednesday morning, but my son was up with a stomach bug. I chose to catch some Z's. Miss Opportunity for exercise, but much needed opportunity to sleep. I hate that I am in a position to have to choose right now. Why can't I have sleep and exercise? I guess I can, I just need to budget my time better and get used to this mommy of 2 thing. Give me some time.

Wednesday. This is my every other day to run day. I planned to go to the gym straight after work, but missed my family and decided to head home & have dinner with them, then work out later. Bad decision. There was an accident on the freeway and my 20 minute commute turned into an hour. That was time I could have been in the gym if I had stuck to my plan. I was just done by the time night time rolled around and didn't go to the gym later either. That means 2-days in a row off and I am totally not ready for my 10K Sunday . Miss opportunity.

Thursday. I eat. I eat and I eat some more. Peanut Butter Chocolate chip cookies anyone? How about lasagna and garlic bread. I was feeling pretty low and got myself off the couch around 10PM and hit the gym. While I am glad I went, I had no real energy because I fueled my body with junk food all day. I spent an icky hour on the treadmill and had nothing left for weights. When I got home at 11:30 PM my husband volunteered for baby duty so I could get some sleep and hit the 5:30 am swim. After a shower and nursing my beautiful baby girl I don't get to bed until 1:00 am. Yikes, I am not sure 4 hours of sleep is going to cut it.

TODAY-FRIDAY At 4:45 am I hear my hubby in the kitchen. He has not slept all night and is making me a breakfast of champions for my swim endeavor. I feel completely lame that I am too tired to go especially because he did something so thoughtful and encouraging. He has to work in 3 hours and my little one is still awake so I stay up with her so he can get in a couple hours of sleep.

I think today is a good motivation day. I actually got online to buy the new sports bras I have been talking about. Downside, they are discontinued. I should have bought them when I found them, but was afraid of spending the cash. Missed Opportunity. Good news, I found some online that might work and ordered them. Free Shipping! As for the food situation, I really need to get that under control, so I have signed up for the Online version of Weight Watchers. Wish me luck. It has worked for me in the past when I have gone to meetings. This is the first time I'll be online only. Yup, accountable to no one but myself and my loyal readers...the two of you out there so far :)

Have a great Friday!

Canine Speed Coach

So this New Year's thing is really supposed to get people motivated. I am still working on that. I was excited to maybe hit the gym yesterday. Didn't happen. My family & I decided to head up to the hills after a family party. Hills=Great workout right? Nope, but I did pack my workout clothes so I did have good intentions. I had a great time with family eating way too much food so I chalked it up to a rest day.

Today, again big ideas about running in the hills. Again, didn't happen. We came home early so I thought for sure I could hit the gym. Nope. But do not fret friendly readers it is only day 2 of the New Year and I have not fallen off the wagon yet. My trusty canine companion and I took a little jaunt up to the University and back. I am glad I got out, but am not sure how I am going to go from 13 minute miles back down to 10 minute miles. Ideally I'll break that 10 minute mark sometime in 2010, even if it is just for a local 5K.

Tomorrow there is a 5K at the state capital. I feel like I should run it as a source of motivation and feeling of accomplishment. The other part of me wants to save the $30 and the drive and just do a run on my own. Especially since I am clocking a 13 minute pace. I actually have a partner lined up for a 10am 'ish run, so maybe instead of feeling like I failed by not heading to the race I will still feel accomplished by still running with a friend. What to do? What to do?

While I love human interaction, I really do need to embrace the canine companion angle. I read about it all the time, people love running with their dogs. There's the whole reliability thing, I mean what else does my dog have planned? The unconditional love, e.g. I can skip walking her and she still loves me. Finally there is that built in speed coach. I am trucking along at 13 minutes a mile, my dog is not phased by this pace and I am confident she will encourage me to get my time down. So why don't I get out on the roads early and often? Well I am working on the early bird thing and as for often, yeah I am working on that too. Mark a star on the calendar folks because Elaine "Lainey" and I got our run in today, just wish us luck on making it a daily thing. Just so my other dog does not feel neglected, stay tuned for runs with Arthur. While he is not built for speed (good thing, cause I'm not fast) he is that trusty dog who will chug along on days when I need to run, but could do without Lainey's energetic vibes.

Resolutions

So if you haven't figured out by the few posts I have already done, I am a list maker. New Year's Resolutions could be considered my Super Bowl type effort. In years past it has been. I'd draft a list longer than is feasible, then feel like a failure for the rest of the year. While I still have projections via calendars with all the races I wish I had the time to do or commitment to train for, I have morphed into a daily resolutions girl.

Today I resolved to purge and sort things for shredding. I got some done, which is better than nothing. In the process I found my Runner's World Magazine subscription past due notice. So today I finally renewed my membership that expired in July. Don't get me wrong, I am a faithful reader, but at least now I am not spending $5 a magazine to buy it in store. I give myself extra points for both of these accomplishments today. I have one more resolution for myself for today, but think I'll put it off since it's late and I am too tired to shop online. Yup, too tired to stay up for an hour to ring in the new year. Oh, back to the one more resolution. I need more sports bras. I ran today in the worst sports bra I own. I should really throw it out, but then I would have one less than I currently have and my wardrobe cannot suffer the loss right now. Ah, there you go, another accomplishment, I ran today and I took my toddler in his jogging stroller. One more thing on my list of to-do's, scour Craigslist for a better jogging stroller. I hear winter is the best time to look, as all the summer time stroller purchases by ambitious parents make their way into virtual garage sale land.

See, who needs a one time a year master resolution list when I can torture myself daily. This blog, for however long it lasts, will embody my ever growing and evolving resolutions.

Good night and Happy New Year.

Effort-12/30/09

Not the best nights sleep, but I'm sure no one could tell. I was a ball of energy and explored my new office where I start work Monday. Drove the route from the office to the gym (1.8 miles) and actually went to the gym when my husband got off work. The stars were aligned as a movie I discussed with my gym partner magically made it's way into my DVD player tonight. Quite fortuitous. I made a yummy Carbonara and my husband prepared a delicious salad. I had a wonderful day and am hoping for a restful night.

Why does this sound too good to be my life? Because I have not told you the millions of thoughts that have gone through my head today. The to-do's if you will. I'll spare you the lot of them, but here are a few highlights: RUN, TRI, READ

RUN

I'm hoping to run a 5K on Sunday. Ok, so what I meant was complete the 5K, running is debatable. My husband thinks it might be a good jump start to the year and propel me into a more motivated state. I am looking for a partner. While running is considered a individual sport, I am so much better when I have a friendly face at the start and finish. That said I have already started searching for someone to run it with me.

TRI

I am also considering joining a triathlon club. The new year will bring this club into it's 3rd year. I went to the very first meeting of the first year and in perfect style, did not follow through with the application. At the time the $45 membership and a $60 jersey deterred me. Silly I know, but I needed an excuse to not be all that I could be. In retrospect, I was much more active and actually competing in triathlons leading up to the formation of the TRI club and yet still didn't sign up.

I am having a change of heart and will go to the first meeting of the 2010 TRI club season with my membership fee in hand. Whether or not I end up being an "ACTIVE" member is yet to be determined. I surely hope I am that cool TRI girl, but I am not sure I have ever been associated with the word cool so wish me luck.

READ

All these things take effort and I am adverse to effort. I ordered a book with a title that implies that less is more, but I am not sure that refers to the actual effort required to be successful. Just in case there is an easier way, the book has been ordered. We'll see if I can ACT on the suggestions in the book. I'll keep you posted.

I am a blamer

Why can't I do everything? Today started off well, then I got distracted by facebook & blogs. I completely let the movie Babe babysit my son from after a late breakfast to an afternoon nap time. Poor guy was cooped up in the house all day and by dinner time it sure showed. During nap time I did lots of cleaning, guess this blog thing is working to get me doing something. I had high hopes of meeting a friend at the gym this afternoon, but the hubby couldn't get off from work to watch the little ones so I could go. Instead I came home, made a successful Butternut Squash soup and had a nice dinner with the family. Sounds pretty domestic huh?! Even with all this accomplished, I felt like there was so much more I wanted to do, but I had too much mommy/wifey stuff that needed to be done.

I am a blamer, there I have said it. If there is someone to blame, I will find them. This is where I am so thankful for the blogging world. Today I read about a women with an active husband (until marathon training do we part-Nov 15, 2009). She talked about how they traded time watching the kids so each could get their workout in. She also commented on how in talking to people with a sedentary spouse it isn't any easier. Someday's I blame being fat and inactive on my husband who is largely sedentary (save for March-Oct when he plays slow pitch softball 2x a week). I think if he were active we could run together or go bike riding etc. I love hiking for the sake of hiking. He'll hike 20 miles as long as there is a fishing hole for a destination, but just hiking is not his thing. I digress. So on this blog I was reading, the author said it wasn't easy with an active spouse because both wanted to get their own workout in and it is not easy when the spouse is sedentary either because they have their own interests. In my case I am married to a fly fisherman. The moral of the story, respect eachothers time, communicate and take the time when you can get it.

Tonight, 10PM my opportunity arose. Both kids were asleep and my husband said GO. If I didn't go to the gym there would be no one to blame but me. Sure I was tired from a long night with my 9 week old baby girl last night, and I had no gym partner, but I had this blog and would've felt guilty if I didn't go. I should be celebrating the success of going, but instead I am a little stunned. While I knew I was outta shape, tonight took the cake. I am only 9 weeks post C-Section and am recovering from being completely run down in an alumni basketball game Sunday too. That said, I was not prepared for walking on the treadmill. No, not just warm up, but walking the entire 36 minutes. I had my iPod on and my go to energy running song came on. I kicked up the speed and ran. Yup, I ran for literally about a minute before I had to walk again. My hamstring hurt, my knee hurt and there I was, walking and feeling like a shadow of my former self.

I am signed up for the Cal 10 (10K option) on January 10th. While I have no expectation to run the whole thing, let's hope I don't walk the whole thing either.

Just One More Thing...

So I have a feeling this blog might turn out to be just one more thing I add to the list of things I do, have done, tried etc... I am hoping not, but I am not one who is great at follow through. Don't get me wrong, I am a reliable and responsible wife, mother, friend, employee and all that good stuff. Unfortunately, I do not give myself the same attention. I have a habit of setting myself up to fail by giving myself the impossible to-do-list.

So what am I doing blogging? Really I am just wasting time not doing the things on the list that is generated in my head daily. Sometimes the list makes an appearance on paper as an effort to show commitment to actually completing it. Unfortunately, I treat the fact that I even wrote the list down as it's own accomplishment and stop there. I am a girl who is at her best when held accountable. Accountable to myself just isn't enough, hence being an Ambitious Slacker. I am hoping this blogging thing will help me feel accountable to the people in cyberspace who might read this. Lord knows I care way more about what other people think than just doing things for myself. I am also hoping to change that issue via this blogging thing too. Wish me luck! View my Dream Life below:

Dream life:

• Wonderful Husband, check.
• Wonderful Children, check.
• Wonderful Home, check.
• Wonderful Job, check.
• I am the girl that wakes up at 4:00am for "me time" then gets the kids ready for school... don't kid yourself. I am so not a morning person, nor am I very domestic.
• I am the girl that is a great cook and is fun to be around... again don't kid yourself. I am shy of a disaster in the kitchen and while I like to hang out and have fun, I have such a lame sense of humor and am so self conscious/worried about what other people think it is hard to be "fun loving".

So life goals? Let loose, who cares what people think. It is not my fault my sense of humor stops at knock-knock jokes. I can learn to be a better cook. I can train myself to be a morning person. Ah, there are so many things I can do! Now it is just figuring out how to motivate myself to actually do them?