Adventure Is Out There

Monday Morning Dance Party

2012-01-30T04:50:00.000-08:00

My favorite thing to watch and listen to lately...

Three Things Thursday

2012-01-26T09:54:00.000-08:00

1. Pain relief. After months and months of pain, I finally could take no more and went to the chiropractor yesterday for my shoulder and related pains. I haven't been able to fall asleep or sleep well for over 6 weeks now as the pain has progressed. It started with elbow pain - from desk work, I believe, back earlier in 2011. Then in September I was doing some fairly heavy and repetitive shoulder workouts with my girlfriend and in the first week felt like I injured both shoulders, the right more than the left - and yet, I kept it up. Add in boot camp classes and in came the pushups, pike presses, etc and I'm left with pain so bad that in the past week I thought I would vomit.
My old doctor has moved from chiro to teaching pilates, so I was scheduled to see Dr. Marasco who does a lot of Crossfit AND had the same injury as mine last year. He did some ultrasound for my tennis elbow and then worked with it a bit. Then for my sprained shoulder, I had some lovely massage and a spinal and neck adjustment. What did all that spell?
RELIEF!
I fell asleep fine and slept through the night. I'm to continue twice a week for now and see how it goes. Fine by me :-)

2. My husband saved my dogs life last night. I've had the stomach flu and my three main meals yesterday consisted of popsicles. I left the sticks on the table next to the couch I slept on all day and when I managed to rouse myself to take Mai to basketball practice, the dog decided to eat sticks...which got lodged in the roof of her mouth and throat. Steve came out to find she had puked all over the house and was dramatically scratching at her face and mouth and causing a bloody mess. She eventually started choking so badly that he though she was going to die. He reached in to find two sticks lodged in her throat and made the decision that he must just rip them out immediately and worry about how that might hurt her later. She seems fine now, but was quite the pitiful pooch last night when I arrived home.

3. Our Sisters Of Pain group met up this last week to discuss strategy for the The Wild Canyon Games.

We are an all women team of seven. Our motto? No Mercy. Our signature drink? To Be Determined. We are happily trying out many drinks to find the perfect one that states what we are all about. The goldschlager one is high on my list.

Here are the events involved in this two day adventure:

Triathlon:

Swim

Bike

Run

Geocaching:

Challenge Events::

Zipline

Ropes Course

Canyon Swig

Blob Tower/Iceberg

Adventure Course

Cliff Jump

Waterslide

Creek2Peak:

300 Meter Sprint

Cyclo Cross

Obstacle Course

1/2 Mile Sprint

1/8 Mile Swim

1/4 Mile Hill Sprint 1

1/4 Mile Hill Sprint 2

In the challenge events I am doing the 35 foot Ropes Course that includes a "leap of faith". I will be honest and say that I'm a little disappointed to not be doing the Canyon Swing or Zipline, but I'll survive. I'm happy to say I'm not doing the blobbing. Some poor woman broke both ankles on that one last year.

In Creek2Peak I am starting things off with the 300 meter sprint. It is one of the most important jobs of that event as the race starts to get very crowded once runners are forced into a narrow tunnel to complete the race. We need to get a head start in order to have the rest of this race run smoothly. Consider me working on my sprinting skills.

On day one, three teammates are competing in a triathlon while the other four teammates are off geocaching over 177 square miles of Eastern Oregon wilderness. Because my team ~~hates~~ trusts me, I have been honored with the job of geocaching. This is so wrong on so many levels but I'm up for the challenge. We've decided to wear BRIGHT colors so we won't be like those two guys that were so lost last year that they had to spend the night out by themselves and most of the next day because the helicopters could not see them for rescue.

*Both times I've been to a chiropractor, they have rocked my world. Have you ever used one?

*What's the wierdest predicament your dog as ever been in or the funkiest thing they've eaten?

Have you ever had to be rescued?

Monday Morning $h!t Women Say...

2012-01-23T09:48:00.000-08:00

This may have already been passed around over the past weeks because these $h!t vidoes are everywhere!!!..., but I wouldn't know because I haven't been able to keep up with anything lately. I can't for the life of me think of the perfect MM Dance Party, so I'm exchanging it with $h!t Women Say to Personal Trainers...because this one actually made me laugh because I've said A LOT of these things before! :-)

In Pursuit of God...

2012-01-15T20:20:00.000-08:00

...and why do I feel like He's avoiding me?

I can totally feel when I'm off course and often I just let myself wander along until I'm hit in the head with how completely dumb I am being. Like today.
I had promised the kids I would take them geocaching and the closest one to us said it wasn't kid friendly. BUT>>>I took them anyways. I mean, what's the worst that could happen? Right?....right?

Off we went to find our "treasure" and as we stumbled upon our coordinates, I realized we were under an overpass and the only way to go was up into a very dark and dank space. It was here that I hit upon the "hint" button to make sure we were on to something and discovered that our cache was a PILL BOTTLE. That's what the hint said - Look for a pill bottle. What the what??

Even my husband had a bad feeling on this one. I received the following text from him:

So...among all the empty 40s and urine stains, we found our broken and battered pill bottle. I don't know what might have been in it before it was cracked and destroyed and I don't think I really want to know. What I do know is that I was in pursuit of something I shouldn't have been and my treasure avoided me.

I feel like this many days in my pursuit of my Heavenly Father. Although He is on my mind in what seems to be a constant buzz, I find that I am not following the path I'm supposed to be following in this pursuit. I've taken off on a simple route that is close to home that feels ...well...easy. Comfortable. Not too out of my comfort zone. Maybe some days, I don't even follow a path at all, but expect to arrive somewhere without the movement it requires. And the smashed empty pill bottle that lies waiting for me is simply because I moved too fast, without thinking it through, without my true end destination in mind.

I get angry that He seems so elusive to me. Like a child, I want my way and I want it NOW. He doesn't go by my desires, though. He DOES ask me to Rejoice in confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and to keep on praying. (Romans 12:12) and so tomorrow I will again rise and pursue Him. His treasure is in each day, each person, each lesson. As I end this day, I'm still thinking on my lessons learned. I know it comes together for His good - even my missteps. So tomorrow I will rejoice in the confident hope that I know He wants me to continue my pursuit, even with all the crazy side roads I take, I'm to keep on praying and to rejoice in confident hope.
He's not avoiding me.
He's waiting patiently for me.

Triple D means Triple Yum!

2012-01-13T07:17:00.000-08:00

Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives with Guy Fieri. You guys love it as much as I do, right? Between Triple D and Man Vs Food, I've got a lot of restaurants on my list that I need to try. After Steve saw this episode a week or two ago, he just KNEW he had to take me there for lunch.

So, not knowing whether or not I would feel guilty about indulging in this spectacular goodness when my Biggest Loser group starts at the club on Monday, I figured yesterday was as good a time as any to take Steve up on his offer for lunch.We headed to Pine State Biscuits and wanna guess what I ordered? Well...Biscuits OF COURSE! And sandwiched in between those buscuits was the yummiest deep fried chicken, topped with bacon and cheese...topped with gravy...topped with egg!

Ohhhhhhh....the delight! If you're ever in Portland...and you're in a gravy mood...you've got to check out Pine State Biscuits.
Next time in, I'm trying their biscuits with butter and local jams. Holy Yum!!!!

No worries, Biggest Loser Team...after the dust settled, I did an amazing 20 minute HIIT run on the treadmill before heading to work. And no surprise, I ate this at noon and didn't get hungry again until 8:30pm!!

All Cached Out

2012-01-12T05:13:00.000-08:00

I have no sense of direction. It's a fact. From a very early age, I knew that I was different than most people. Maybe it is that I don't pay attention to detail, maybe it is that my head is in the clouds, maybe I just never thought it was very important. One of my favorite tv shows is Amazing Race. I want to go on that show. Badly. However, I know that my team would be the first to get booted off, because I. HAVE. NO. SENSE. OF. DIRECTION.

As a child, I visited my grandparents house often. They lived in our town and our visits were plenty. At the age of 15, I received my learners permit and over the valley and through the woods to Grandmother's house did I go. Well, sort of. You took the main road from our house to their house with a few odd streets thrown in and there ya go. I panicked. I doubted myself. I wasn't sure how to get there. I was a wreck! 29 years later, I've had plenty of similar experiences and I typically give myself extra time in order to get to where I need to go - maybe an hour extra to reach a location only 20 minutes away. I just KNOW I'll need it. Even when prepared, I won't pay attention to the details, and end up 3/4 of the way to my destination before I realize I've forgotten the last page of my mapquest printout. Aw...c'mon, man! What were you thinking? You've done this like a dozen times now. Won't you ever learn?????????

Over the last few years, this poor sense of direction, or of following directions, or lack of attention has poured over into my athletic endeavors as well. Each early morning group bike ride begins with me waking up and knowing that I'm a back of the packer. I dutifully tape my bike route to my aerobars with every intention of being able to follow the directions, but know deep in my soul that I have no chance. I MUST keep up with someone, anyone, in order to not get horribly lost. Admittedly this has been great for my biking skills and I would now consider myself a middle of the packer simply because I've HAD to keep up. No option.

As some of you will recall, I am one of the Sisters Of Pain team that is participating at the Wild Canyon Games this June. A big portion of that first day is geocaching, here explained by Wiki: Geocaches vary in size, difficulty, and location. Simple caches are often called "drive-bys," "park 'n grabs" (PNGs), or "cache and dash." Geocaches may also be complex, involving lengthy searches or significant travel.

Lengthy searches or significant travel? Sounds like me trying to get to the grocery store!! That's right up my ally. HAhahahahaha.

So...I decided to take a stab at it with the kids in tow. Our first cache that we chose was supposed to be 1/2 mile from our house. We set out at dusk in brutally cold weather the other day expecting to be back warm and cozy to our house within minutes. 1 Hour!!!! and 3 miles later, we eventually gave up the search and headed home. You can see my children were thrilled to be out there...

Actually. it was a great adventure, but WAY too cold. We were all almost in tears by the time we got home - no gloves, no hats, and me in a workout skirt. We arrived home in the dark and with our little geocaching hearts a little cracked.

The next day, we set out again on a new search for a new cache...and EUREKA!!!

I'm assuming this is the simplest cache that we will ever find, but we DID IT!! Unfortunately, we were basically just following a compass on my phone and coordinates did not play a factor in our search.
I am hoping.
I am praying.
I am begging my Sisters of Pain.
Please...Please...Please do not make me do this leg of the race.
Please.
Pretty please.
I will get lost in the desert and die.
Just sayin'.

When In Doubt...Look Up

2012-01-04T14:26:00.000-08:00

My friend, Brooke, had me thinking the other day. Instead of resolutions, she asks God for a word for the year. Last year her word was Believe (reminds me of Polar Express :-) and this year it's Joy (love this one, too!!)

I didn't ask God for a word, but I think I've been given a phrase: When in Doubt, Look up. Actually, it was on a rickety sign outside of someone's house today when I was papering neighborhoods with boot camp flyers.
Sooooo...maybe it's not directly from God...but it still seems to me to be a pretty good motto.

There were many times this last year when I was in doubt, but stubbornly refused to let it seep in too deeply. Maybe I was looking up on the inside and just didn't always realize it. I think this year I'm going to take it a step further and actually look to Him and "believe" that he wants "joy" in not only Brooke's life, but in mine as well. I find great comfort in knowing that this amazing God wants a relationship with me as much as I want one with Him...and in knowing that he does want me to have Joy...that beautifully mysterious peaceful joy that can only come from Him.

Whoops...here comes my word.
Trust...well THAT just popped into my head right here while I was typing.
Ya...maybe that's my word. Trust. I'll have to ponder that one. Seems to fit rather well with my phrase don't you think?
Well, that was weird...and a little awkward. Sorry for the interruption.

So, I'll start off this update (as that seems to be how my blogging is going lately...little spurts of updates that don't amount to much) with saying that I really hope to blog more frequently sooner rather than later. I miss it. I know I'll eventually get settled into a routine, but right now I feel like I'm spinning around and around.

Ok. Top news is that with help from Good Ol' Nelly, I was the overall winner of my women's NFL pool. Woot!! I'm rollin' in it!

And...I know you all are wondering how the Sign Wars are going.
EVIL sign haters: 3, Me: zero

I'm losing the battle here. I don't get people.

Um...I still have two children. Mai, the athlete, is starting basketball today (I know you're not supposed to label your kids, but I'm gonna) and Jack, the absent minded professor, is starting an after-school class called Mad Science and also just joined the chess club!! What a brainiac!

Me? Glad you asked. I was smart enough to not apply for the 1/2 IM mentor position that I had planned on with TNT this year, but am I smart enough to realize I'm too busy to train for Pac Crest again this year? Hmmm....When in doubt, look up! Consider me looking up right now for some divine advice on this one.

Oh yes!! I love me a cute workout skirt and thanks to my extreme knowledge of everything "Michael", I won a $25 gift card to Road Runner Sports and finally got around to spending my $$ today on this cutie:

and I got a note from Mom last night that one of these is on it's way...

These are super comfy!!! I already have one in black, so she's going to surprise me with a new color. I LOVE that my new job(s) require me to wear work out clothes!!! WOOT!!

So??? What's your go to word or phrase for the new year? Don't have one yet? It's still not too late to ask for one :D

Monday Morning Dance Party

2012-01-02T05:13:00.000-08:00

It's Rose Bowl time! Goooooooooooooooooooooooooo DUCKS!

Monday Morning Dance Party

2011-12-25T21:17:00.000-08:00

Oh boy, what a Christmas weekend! A wonderful Christmas Eve service followed by our new tradition of going out to pizza at a local pizzaria...

...ended with Steve and I watching The Hangover 2 while waiting for the kiddos to fall asleep. With a 2:30am wake up call from Mai who discovered that Santa had indeed made it to our house in the wee hours, we eventually fell back to sleep and arose at a more decent hour of 7 something a.m. to open presents before heading over to the in-laws, where we had to EARN our presents this year. From wall sits... to caroling... to answering Christmas trivia, a good time was had by all.

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Well...maybe not by Mai, who in attempts to befriend a squirrel, was bitten quite good on her finger. She'll survive, but she's plenty pi$$ed at a certain ~~peanut~~ flesh eating critter. Although it appeared to me to be a good haul under that holiday tree..She said it was the worst Christmas ever...

So to you other kids all across the land
Take it from me...
Parents just don't understand

Sign Wars

2011-12-23T14:02:00.000-08:00

I think that I'm going to be in a documentary soon...a reality show maybe...about crazy people who start fights over signage. First, let me backtrack to November when I needed to get the word out about my Holiday Bootie Buster Boot Camp. I had a limited budget (that means 45 bucks) and I needed as many signs as possible. I managed to get three 18x24" signs with posts and used up all my budget, plus I had to throw a few extra pennies in from the kids' piggy banks. Remember these?

So...fast forward 4 weeks and I decide to make the boot camp permanent, so I need permanent signs right? I head straight back to the sign maker with enough money for 15 signs this time!! GO ME! Only this time, they try to charge me $477!!! That's FOUR HUNDRED and Seventy Seven green backs, gold coins, pure gravy... BUCKS! I couldn't figure it out. They couldn't figure it out. Shouldn't I be paying LESS for ordering MORE? Eventually they looked my last order up on their handy computer and discovered they only charged me for one sign the first time...and three sign holders :-) Oh Bother! I wiggled and waggled my way through two customer service reps, two different locations and finally my man, Richard, came through for me. He got my signs with posts down to just over $15 each. I wanted to kiss him! Instead I just promised him my everliving committment to return to him for all future sign needs. I had my toes crossed though, ...so if anyone knows of a way to get cheaper signs, let me know.

So the Sign Wars all started about 5 weeks ago. I mean...these babies are... well...they are my babies!! Cheap they are not. I must guard them like they are diamond encrusted. One of my three holiday signs was in a prime location at a 3 way stop in my neighborhood. One day I drove by and lovingly gazed at my sign as I dropped the kids off at school. A few minutes later I drove by to find my sign GONE...and in it's place is a PTA Christmas Bazaar sign. Not only did those ~~b!@tches~~ PTA members put their sign in my spot, they completely removed MY sign! A week or two later my husband found it flung into a field across the street. We had plans to "communicate our unhappiness" to the PTA, but eventually decided that blood might be shed and we just dropped it.

Two weeks ago, as my Dad and I were driving down the road, I excitedly showed him the location of one of my newest signs...

...only to discover it was mostly hidden by a much bigger Christmas Trees For Sale sign that someone had put in front of it. Grrrr....

I dropped Dad off at home, headed out for a run and as I went by I plucked that baby out of the ground and tried to move it over...unsuccessfully. The ground was frozen and wasn't budging for me. I propped it up and being the bigger person, came back later with a hammer and in a more appropriate spot RIGHT next to my sign instead of in front of it, I hammered it in safe and sound. Several days later I drove by to find that this time they had uprooted their sign and again moved it in front of mine - this time completely covering mine. *#*%@*##*!!&*#. So with two little confused girls in tow, I removed their sign and drove it to their house. I really didn't want to have words with anyone and the sign at their door said they were on a break. Not wanting to scare the teenager sitting inside wondering why some crazy woman was peering through his front window with a tree sign held up high over her head, I gently placed it on their front porch (where it remains to this day :-)

I know I've lost it. I'm a mad woman. And yesterday was the last straw. Again, after passing one of my signs and returning within minutes from the other direction to see it was gone, I was just stumped. Where in the world could it be? What makes people think they can just destroy or get rid of someone else's stuff? At Christmas no less. Nowwwww, I will admit that this particular sign is on someone's private property. Someone I don't know. Someone who I did not ask permission of...But I placed the sign in a place kind of "off' their property...that they can't even see from their house...but that is prime sign location. I kind of wondered why there were no other signs there, but the thought was brief. I think it shouldn't have been such a fleeting thought, though. I mean...I see the owner of this house out vacumming his garage floors and waxing them and stuff. He's no slacker in the yard/home maintenance department. However, my sign was there for a good three weeks with no issues, so I had been quite pleased with my trespassing skills.

It directly occurred to me when Mai and I could not find the sign in the bushes anywhere, that these home owners had definitely removed it. I wanted it back. Badly. With cute dog and even cuter little girl by my side, I rang their bell. A woman answered. I kindly told her that I illegally placed a sign on her property and was hoping that rather than vandals having destroyed my "very expensive" sign, that perhaps someone in her home had rightly removed it and could I possibly have it returned to me. She said she was so very sorry about my sign but she had no idea what in the world I was talking about. Then about that time she turned a bit surly and expressed some pretty deep anger about people who put garage sale or missing pet flyers on the telephone pole out there in their side yard and I IMMEDIATELY KNEW she had my sign. However, she wouldn't break. I was sweet and kept it all under my hood. You're not getting me riled at Christmas time, lady...I'm walking away with my Christmas spirit high and just happy to know it wasn't punk vandals but actually someone who had a right to remove my sign. I can deal.

As Mai and I sang out our Merry Christmas to her and wandered back to our dog walk, not 30 seconds passed before I got a blocked call...which I didn't answer. A few minutes later...a second blocked call...which I did answer. It was her. I knew it would be. She couldn't handle the guilt...not this close to Christmas. She said she had my sign. She tried to put the blame on her husband, but either way, I knew it...she just couldn't stand the lies :-)

I immediately went back to her house and she returned my sign...postless. When I asked about the post she actually said "I think you are pushing your luck". I reminded her that although the posts aren't "that" expensive, every little bit counts at Christmas time. She said she had put it aside to use as a tomato ladder in her garden next Spring and so after a little scuffling around behind her door, she returned my post to me, too :-)

So whadaya think? Should cameras be following me around OR WHAT??

Monday Evening Dance Party

2011-12-19T18:34:00.000-08:00

Some days you just need a nap...and then you wake up and you're still not feeling "it" and then the mail comes and you get three "pick me up" packages and all is well again :-)

First opened was a card with these gorgeous pictures of Baby Katelyn. Remember this little preemie?

...now she's all grown up and 9 months old!!!

Then I opened my present from my Secret Santa through Run With Jill's bloggy present exchange...
new socks...WOOT!!! My secret pal is still a secret, though! Come out and identify yourself!! Thanks for the socks. I desperately needed them! How did you know??

My final package was a sweet smelling treat that I won a few weeks ago from Adena's giveaway at she said I need a goal. My sad dry winter skin is in for a treat with these lotions from Sheebody. Of the four scrumptious scents: Vanilla Pear, Beach House, Apple Spice, and Sweetie Bit...Sweetie Bit is my favorite. Mai loves the Vanilla Pear. Thank you Adena and Sheelagh!!

Whoops! Two weeks in a row with no MMDP. Please immediately dance now instead...
Def Leppard was my first concert and I will forever remember this particular song and my Aunt Cindy yelling at a rather enthusiastic couple on the floor at a dance club to "go get a room!". HA!
Only dance to this song with the one you love...it's dangerous :p

Pounding Pavement

2011-12-16T19:11:00.000-08:00

I can't believe 6 weeks later, I'm out pounding the pavement again with my little boot camp flyers and a roll of tape. The best part is that this time people have their Christmas decorations up and it's fun to see all the different neighborhoods and their holiday cheer. By far my favorite house today was this one!!

ISN'T THIS SO COOL!!!!!!!!

I can't believe how quickly things have just taken off. 13 years ago we started our business and for a few years there things were pretty crazy - new business, multiple jobs while we were starting up our business, new house, new babies, new car- things were busy. Then we kind of mellowed it all out and we've really only worked part time for these last couple of years. It's funny how busy you think you are until you REALLY get busy.
And that has happened! I even bought a freaking planner because my mind is spinning on all the different places I need to be...

So the new schedule includes the old business...
and then all the new stuff... a 6am and 7am bootcamp (with an 8:30am class in the works). I've also agreed to a "Baby Steps Boot Camp" two days a week at the same bouncy house facility. The owner wants to offer it as kind of a public service for the moms who are willing to pay for their kids to come in to play, but can't really afford the money or time to work out. While their kids are playing, they will boot camp with me at no charge to them.

As of January, I've taken on 3 floor shifts at the club that just hired me and I'm also doing two fit camps there every week. For now I'm sticking with "boot camp" style camps but I received my TRX certification this week...

so plan on doing a TRX fit camp within the next couple of months. I've also heard rumors that I'll be heading up a "Biggest Loser" contest in January as well. So when will I fit in personal training clients? I have not a clue. I'm just rolling with it for now.

I've made sure to keep my Wednesday nights clear so I can hang with the church ladies and still be able to play stupid Christmas games with them, like try to unwrap the present while wearing kitchen mittens after drinking red wine and stuffing yourself silly on yummy food :p

And church pajama parties...

And I need to pencil in the dog somewhere for her walk...

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...and the kids are INKED in several times during the day.

I'm trying to remember to work out, but my running fell by the wayside this week. I just realized today I didn't run at all this week. I am walking MILES and MILES and MILES putting up fliers, though....does that count?

AND......I'm so so so excited for Christmas - particularly Christmas Eve church service that I think is going to be a lot of fun. We started a new tradition last year of hitting up the pizza place after church on Christmas Eve, so that's the plan again this year. The presents are almost all picked out and wrapped and I feel like this next week is going to be mellow...the calm before a great and fun storm.

So what's new with you? What are you MOST looking forward to this next week?

and...I'll throw out a question I drew from the anonymous bowl at study on Wednesday night: Would you ever die for someone? Who?

Crazy Busy...

2011-12-07T13:04:00.000-08:00

Crazy busy, but it's all good. My husband, Steve...

has done a phenomenal job on my boot camp website...

and on my new flyers...

and these signs...

and with the kids...

and I could NOT have done all this without him. Please leave a comment telling him WHAT A STUD HE IS!!!!

My favorite quote from boot camper, Antonio, today on FB:

If anyone is looking to fight the holiday madness and stay in shape..or hell, get in shape....go check out DRENCHED Boot Camp @ JJ Jump in Clackamas. It's run by a friend, and I guarantee she'll kick your ass.

I know what you're thinking..."JJ Jump...the kids place..really Tone?". Yeah..like I said...you'll get worked. I just about barfed this morning. It's a great way to kick-start the day. Or you could stuff your face w/ donuts and surf the net...your call.

Monday Morning Dance Party

2011-12-05T04:50:00.000-08:00

Today's Dance Party is dedicated to the child who didn't keep me up all night!

Poor wee girl was up tossing her cookies all.night.long. This mama is heading into today with about 2 hours of sleep or less under her belt. It's not a pretty sight!...but this song makes it better...

Don't forget to read Saturday's post and keep giving me your stories. I've loved them all and would love to hear more!

Getting Our Feet Wet

2011-12-03T09:21:00.000-08:00

What happens when women start bible study bonding and boot camping together? Well...we went from Superman/Bananas and Supergirl Planks in the early a.m. to Super Church Lady Disaster Controllers by night. One of our lovely ladies got her car stuck in a huge mud pit in "the parking lot" (it's really the large front yard of a house) Wednesday night and all during the study I could see her worrying about it as I was trying to figure out if I could give her a ride to her place and still make it home in time to tuck the kids in as promised.

Eventually our time together was over and after our final prayer I heard our leader say, "So let's go try to get that car moved". Whhhhaaatt? Wait a minute, what did she say? I don't have any galoshes or a change of clothes with me, but hey! (after a second of contemplation) I'm up for it. I wasn't sure about everyone else though. Would anyone be too concerned about ruining their shoes or not have faith we could get the job done? We had just finished talking about "getting our feet wet" during bible study...but muddy can be a different story... and I wondered who would participate and who might stand back and watch this muddy mayhem.

I was amazed as I saw everyone head on out, not a worry about shoes in their minds, and stomp right into that mud puddle and start pushing...and pushing...and pushing. With tires spinning and mud flying, women grunting with scrunched up faces and then laughing at the fun of being a bunch of dirty church girls (with new boot camping muscles), we got that stranded car right on out of that puddle. OK, fine...Pastor Brad jumped in at the last minute and helped us a bit. But what I took away from this tiny moment in time is something that I think I will be reflecting on for some days to come. My initial reaction was - I'm going to ruin my shoes...and I wonder about that. How many times in the past have I had a reaction (often my first instinct is to say "no") and chose to not participate in something, not say a nice word to a stranger, not help because I have places to be and then missed out on not only a fun memory, but being a blessing to someone else.

My shoes did get soaked through and through with mud, I did miss putting the kids to bed, and I keep finding remnants of my muddy escapades all through my house. Every time I see a smear of mud on a light switch or dirty brown droplets on the floor, I smile...because those 5 minutes were over way too fast. It was one of the highlights of my week. Women, new friends really, working together in a mud pit and giggling and having fun over something that started out as a dread. We turned it around.

That's the lesson I learned this week. Don't let fear make your first instinct be no. Don't let dread keep you from opportunities to help others. Don't be afraid... step out into the water and get your feet wet - and then watch the amazing things that can happen.

I know I've missed out on probably millions of opportunities to turn a single moment into something better.
How about you? Have you had a moment recently where you decided to offer the compliment to a stranger even though you felt silly doing so? Helped in a situation when you really didn't have time to help and really didn't feel like doing it?...Or have you done something nice without letting anyone know it was you who did it?

I love to hear these kinds of stories. Share with me! How did it turn out?

My New Path

2011-11-30T11:21:00.000-08:00

On August 17th of this year, on this blog, I announced that not only had zombies invaded the golf course, but that I was finally going to do something with this:

After thinking on it, pondering it, getting certified to do it, and then mulling it over for way too long, I finally announced it here on the blog in a rather vague way that I was going to forge ahead and do...well..."something" with it.
...And then for once in my life, I didn't think about it too much, I didn't worry about people saying NO! or about people not believing that I could do it, or even about what other people might think at all.
Instead, I turned off my brain and I JUST DID IT.

And now, 3 months later, I'm smack in the middle of my own holiday boot camp and I was hired yesterday at a local gym as their newest personal trainer. I'm in a kind of very pleased shock that I didn't have to:

Pretend to be someone I wasn't (remember...I'm new at this and very much have no practical experience...and I've been very up front about that through all of this),

Change my appearance to please others (remember the pink miniskirt interview?),

OR...

...even worry about someone telling me no! or not liking me (can I finally be at that point in my life where I can live with the Nos and not let what other people think about me affect me negatively...or affect me at all?)

So these are my questions for you today:

1. Are you so afraid someone will say no that you choose to not even ask the question? Ok then!!... tell me>>>>What's the worst that can happen? GIVE ME AN EXAMPLE, please!!! Some situation in your life that you're afraid someone will say no! Then give me the worst that can happen if you do overcome your fear and ask the question or do the "thing" you're so worried about.

2. Do you feel you've reached a point in your life yet where you are starting to let your "you-i-ness" all hang out? What's the most recent thing you've done that you would have never done in younger years for fear of what someone else might think?

Blogger Meet Up

2011-11-29T05:11:00.000-08:00

Whoa baby...I still didn't manage to get my goal of a minimum of 7 hours of sleep last night. I'm having a hard time telling the kids that I can't be here in the morning with them AND also not tuck them in at night, but really!!!...my bedtime is before theirs!

I was so excited when Kim left me a comment one day saying she would attend my new boot camp even before I had it all set in stone. What a great supporter!! If you've met her in person you know she's a beauty inside and out!! Who doesn't love a tall leggy gorgeous blonde WITH a heart of gold?! Anyways, yesterday she was in town and dropped on by my Holiday Bootie Buster Boot Camp. You can check out what she thought about it on her blog HERE and enter to win her giveaway.

Happy Tuesday All!!!! Boot camp today is called Tone your Tush Tuesday...
And by tone, I mean MURDER =D bwahahahahahaa!

Monday Morning Dance Party

2011-11-28T04:59:00.000-08:00

Oh brother! What a bad night of sleep. 4:30am comes too early after nights like that. Fortunately they are few and far between these days. When I finally did get back to sleep around 3:45am, I had a dream that beat all dreams. Alien ships were surrounding my home (which happened to be a mansion with floor to ceiling windows on all sides) and the military had a bunch of large helicopters flying back and forth trying to decide how to approach the aliens. This fully detailed dream had me running to try to find a hiding spot with all those windows. I can tell you now that when I move, I'm sticking with regular windows :-)
So....anyone want to tell me what THAT dream meant? What am I trying to hide from in real life. Am I becoming too transparent? Was I really abducted by aliens and it was no dream at all?

This MMDP is dedicated to Kim from (Just) Trying is for Little Girls, who will be at my 6am boot camp class this morning. I can't wait to see her!

I can't sleep at night, I toss and turn...

Thanksgiving Week

2011-11-26T08:15:00.000-08:00

Let's see...I know some stuff happened this week, but it's all become a bit of a blur. Last night the kids were with family at a big cousin sleepover, so I took advantage of the alone time to watch a non-Disney movie, drink some wine and relax. Just as I slipped into bed sometime after 11pm, I received a distressed phone call from the wee girl that one of her stuffed animals was MIA. After searching my car, them searching the car we transferred her to, and listening to a LOT of tears, we came to the conclusion she must be at the meeting place where we shuffled kids and sleeping bags and favorite stuffies around. I promised her I would go find said stuffy and I assume tearful baby girl eventually fell asleep without "Pinky" because I did not get a second call. Unfortunately for the runaway lamb, I had one glass of wine too many to be able to drive to her until this morning. With coffee in hand, I made my way to her last known location and prayed for the best. Prayers were answered.

She didn't even get rained on.

We had a nice and relaxing holiday at Mom and Dad's. I say relaxing in that I did nothing but heat up some corn for Thanksgiving dinner. Mom probably didn't find it quite as mellow. She did pass down the best family chocolate pie recipe to Mai...

Grampy and Mai made some cute name card holders...

Jack was addicted to the Weird Facts app on my iPhone and decided to prove one of them wrong...

Make a video - it's fun, easy and free!
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I went for a pre-chocolate pie for breakfast run and then tried to stretch out my sweaty self while the "kids" played with their remote control helicopters which were a hit with young and mature alike...

My run, by the way, was fantastic. I'm glad I've taken some time off to let my left leg get some needed rest. I'm trying to slowly bump up my mileage in order to start the 18 week RLRF training plan around Christmas to get me ready for Eugene.

Boot campers still showed up (mostly) during this holiday week. Mai was my "assistant" this week and got up at 5am every day of her holiday break to ~~help me with boot camp~~ play in the bouncy houses. I tried to snap a few pictures for the boot camp web page we're creating, but my iPhone camera is just not giving me great pictures. My 6 o'clock class refused to be photographed in their early a.m. state, but some of the 7a.m.ers were game for some quick shots as they played in the bouncy obstacle course...

Our workout yesterday...

and our favorite song on yesterday's playlist (don't watch this if you don't want to get an eyeful...that means YOU, Mom!)

Girl, look at that body.
I work out!
Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle, wiggle, wiggle yeah!

Monday Morning Dance Party

2011-11-21T04:49:00.000-08:00

Mai walked by and said this song is not very "danceable". HA! I guess this morning is couples only...

Just For Fun...

2011-11-19T08:12:00.000-08:00

..and because it's rainy and cold here today...I'm imagining being in Hawaii...
learning to surf...

It was one of the very first times I realized that you can't sit back and wish you could do things...you. have. to. Just. Do. It.

You don't have to have someone to do it with you, you don't have to depend on a partner to make you feel more comfortable in a new situation - you CAN do things solo.

You don't always look pretty or coordinated trying new things...but in the end, you still DID it!

When was the last time you tried something that scared you?

Or tried something on your own when doing it on your own was the last thing you wanted to do?

What's on your list that you need to JUST DO IT?

Three Things Thursday

2011-11-17T14:31:00.000-08:00

1. My November Thanksgivings Page has fallen by the wayside. I'm thankful for many many many things, and those things are keeping me B.U.S.Y. Too busy to update my blog busy. Sheesh...I don't think that's ever happened before.

2. One thing I did want to add to my Thanksgivings page was this...

I LOVED THIS STORY SO MUCH!!!

3. Boot Camp. Oh boy. Where to start? I feel like this first week has been a cyclone that has followed the whirlwind of the previous month of preparation. I ended up with 4 people in my 6am class and 7 people in my 7am class. Although those numbers are low...after speaking with another boot camp owner in town, I had prepared myself to only have 2 or 3 people in each class the first month. 11 people is plenty!! ...For now :-) Some come 3 days per week and others 5 days per week and I love that with the small classes they are all bonding with each other. It makes such a difference to have friends to meet you at your workout...even if they're new friends.

I have felt pretty at ease with the class itself, but I've sure worked myself up good over the darn building alarm system. I actually had a full blown anxiety attack about it the other night. I'm sure it was a little bit of all the other stress that led up to it, but the anxiety settled on that damn alarm and I layed in bed half the night stressing out. I can't believe I set it off the first two mornings. Imagine laying in bed all nice and cozy and asleep at 5:30am and some idiot boot camp lady sets the building alarm off. And then she does it again the next day, too! This is not some normal alarm either. It has cars shaking on the street when it goes off. Finally...today...I got it turned off correctly. Today is a Thumbs Up Day after that success :-)

I'm going official in the new year with this, so I HAVE to decide on a permanent boot camp name by like...now. I'm giving myself over the weekend and then we've got to have some signs made up and get the website up.

I'm definitely adding a third class at 8am and then after January ends we'll see where to go from there. I can't believe this is all happening. Two summers ago, I remember sitting in the back yard with my Jack Canfield Success Principles book and mapping out what it would look like to have a bootcamp and then after two years of worrying if I should do it, if I could do it, if I was ready to do it...and on and on and on...one day>>> I just did it. I should Just Do It more often.

Monday Morning Dance Party

2011-11-14T05:12:00.000-08:00

It didn't hit Mai until late last night that Mama is not going to be here in the mornings to wake up with her and take her to school anymore. Boot Camp starts today and she wants me to CANCEL it! So with the mama guilt having already hit me more than a week ago, this put a nice touch to my anxiety last night. Not a great night's sleep, but I'm Hangin' Tough...

That Donny Wahlberg really did it for me in this video, but my heart truly belongs to his brother.

L.A.D.

2011-11-11T19:54:00.000-08:00

Long @$$ day. Whoa baby. If this is what I've signed up for, I'm in trouble. Mama ain't used to this kind of busy. After working all morning, I had my practical interview today. It went really good. I traded in my pink mini for all black today, but I wore happy socks, my favorite cap and hoop earrings. I figure if they don't like it, I don't need to be working there. At the end of the workout I put the interviewer through, she told me I did great, that she liked me, and she especially liked my "bubbliness". HA! Who knew I had it in me?
Mai can't take a non-blurry picture to save her life...

But there, I tried. Seriously...my family doesn't take pictures of me as we go through our days, so this is what I've got :p

After the interview, I spent the entire afternoon walking through neighborhoods and plastering my boot camp flyers to everyone's door. I've been doing this for a week now. I've probably walked over 2 marathons in that time. It's so weird going on to other people's property. The smells can be so strange. Old people have the most distinct smelling houses. I never knew how many people loved their pets so much that they actually put stickers on their front door instructing firemen how many pets and of which variety they are supposed to be saving. More people than I imagined are on oxygen. They actually put up signs on their front door "No Smoking!! I'm on oxygen!". I'm amazed how many people keep such a nice yard. I'm surprised how many people will actually come out to greet me if they see me heading their way.

On my final neighborhood, I parked, headed out and tried to remember as I went, which way I turned as I switched from street to street in this unknown territory. The wind picked up mightily and I thought to myself, this is kind of silly - the wind is going to whisk those flyers right off down the road. I continued this weird and winding path, undaunted as dusk slowly disappeared and the rain started to pitter patter and then came down in a full blown pour. I finally realized that I was now in real darkness with no idea where I parked my car. Hrmph. I made my way back - memory by memory...ok, that's where the lady scowled at me through her window, hmmm...there's where that nice guy pretended he was interested and said he would show up to class on Monday at 6am, there's where I tripped on my own big feet and fell on my face in front of that guy mowing his lawn. Eventually I found my way back and headed home, sopping wet and glad that I only have two more days of this.

Steve bought dry ice for the kids to play with...

Make a video - it's fun, easy and free!
www.onetruemedia.com

And now....after that L.A.D...I'm sipping on a glass of wine while I listen to the squeals of two little girls that we banned to below the house. Literally...we sent them under the house to see what kind of rats and bats they might find. They're loving it.

Pink Is The New Black

2011-11-10T05:27:00.000-08:00

I don't normally use the words pink, mini, and job interview in the same sentence, but I was feeling feisty yesterday as I dressed for an interview at a local gym.

So many great things going on in my life right now. I also have a feeling of peace about them all and whether they pan out or not, I'm moving in the right direction and it feels AWESOME!
I return to the gym on Friday for a practical interview and then we'll just see what happens. Regardless of the outcome of that and because of the interview, I will probably be getting TRX certified in December and I'm excited about that.

Boot camp.
Hmmm...it has definitely been as hard as everyone has told me it would be during the holiday season. Hard to get clients, that is! The classes are, shall we say, intimate. I have great expectations for the new year's classes, though, so I'm forging ahead and will start promoting the permanent boot camp in the next few weeks. I feel the holidays slipping away all ready. I need to remember to slow down and take a breath.

I've decided my ~~main~~ only athletic goal right now is to focus on the Eugene Half Marathon. I will be following the RLRF program that I tried out earlier this year. Unfortunately, I've done something to my foot with all this pounding of the pavement and handing out boot camp flyers and it is really bothersome, but I hope it's just a temporary glitch on my way to a sub 2 half marathon!
In the WAY back of my mind I am playing around with offering to mentor the TNT tri team in 2012, but I'm still mulling it over... and waiting to see how this next month plays out. Stay tuned!

I'm still giving thanks over on This Page.

My question to you today, as I have finally made an active choice to follow my own dreams...is...what is your dream for your future and how are you proceeding TODAY with taking a baby step OR a big step towards making that dream come true? - OR - are you in a place where that dream seems too big and overwhelming or unreachable? Talk to me!

Monday Morning Dance Party

2011-11-07T05:08:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, I decided to video my workout so I could review my form and put a little clip up on my FB page to show you guys a neat trick to do a one leg sliding deadlift. However, I had no right to be doing any leg work at all since the previous two days had obliterated them. I was grabbing on to furniture for support and wobbling like crazy. I finished the workout but it wasn't pretty, and since form was for $h!t and the camera was angled to cut off the majority of my legs and get a lot of ceiling instead, I ditched the idea of sharing it. I DID find this gem amongst all the rubbish, though,...and since it's MMDP... well, it just felt appropriate:

Make a video - it's fun, easy and free!
www.onetruemedia.com

...which reminded me of this clip. Sometimes you just can't help yourself, the beat is too good!

So, without further adieu, in keeping with the 70s theme on this disco Monday, here ya go...now proceed forth and conquer this day with a little boogie in your butt...

November Thanksgivings

2011-11-04T08:49:00.000-07:00

I wanted to write so badly this morning, but my mind went blank. I feel a good post in my belly, but apparently it's not quite done cooking yet, so instead, I started a November Thanksgivings Page HERE.

What are you thankful for this first Friday of the new month?

Monday Morning Dance Party

2011-10-31T05:10:00.000-07:00

Me through Mai's eyes:

I look like I might be doing a little dancing with my arms, don't I? Well...here goes...

Go, Robert! Go, Robert! Go, Robert!

Come on y'all let's take a ride.
Slide slide slippity-slide...

Oh $hit Biscuits

2011-10-29T11:43:00.000-07:00

Not what you want to see when you return to your car while running errands.

My first thought was what the heck?

My second thought was Oh $hit, I wonder how bad it is (but I couldn't see anything behind me...so that would have to wait until I got home).

My third thought was to pick up that seat warmer heated chocolate covered raisin and eat it as I glanced back into the bank windows to see if all the employees were pointing and laughing.

My fourth thought was...do I go home and change or continue on with my errands? So in the middle of a rain storm, I was the only idiot wandering around town with her rain coat tied around her waist.

When I got home the kids ridiculed me and the husband told me I had a "sweet a$$". Get it?

That's about all I got today. I'm gearing up to watch the Duck game and celebrating that I got the boot camp flyers printed and pinned up around town:

The signs printed and staked on street corners:

And now I wait to find out if anyone even wants to work-out during the holidays.

When was the last time you totally embarrassed yourself? Help me feel better about "crapping my pants".

Pumpkin Patch

2011-10-28T06:57:00.000-07:00

Mom came up for a visit which ended in a trip to the pumpkin patch yesterday out at Bauman Farms.
Best pumpkin patch I've ever been to! Half the activities weren't even open because it was mid-week, but we managed to stay for 3 hours

What a GREAT day for some punkin' patch with Grammy!!

Boo!

2011-10-25T11:11:00.000-07:00

We're coming into Halloween weekend and I'm just not ready! We have several parties that we're invited to but probably won't attend, tons of work to be done, and two kids home sick from school and as of yet costumeless for the festivities of this weekend.
Feeling STRESSED today...but these pics my bff texted me the other day take me back about 13 or 14 years to easier times when I was hoping to own my own business and have kids...(guess what? I got my wish!!!!! HOORAY!!)

We used to be so witchy.

Someone's been hanging out at the keg, me thinks... She's gonna kill me if she sees I posted this. And what's up with my yellow teeth? I must have drinking red wine or something...that's just creepy.


My Brother-in-Law, looking all pimped out??, seems pretty grumpy that ~~my husband~~ Dilbert? Drew Carey? got all the ladies ;-)

What are you all dressing up as this year? Any great parties you'll be going to this weekend?

Monday Morning Dance Party

2011-10-24T05:24:00.000-07:00

Can I just whine to you that I've been getting up earlier and earlier each day in anticipation of my 4:30am wake-up times that will come with my new job? Today the alarm was set for 4:50am...for no stinkin' good reason. But guess what? I'm ready to Boogie Oogie Oogie right into this Monday! Care to join me?

Help Me Name My Business

2011-10-22T10:05:00.000-07:00

Are you all joining Amanda at Run To The Finish for her annual Holiday Bootie Buster Challenge? Here's a post explaining the challenge: HBBC

I did the challenge for the first time last year and it was so much fun to compete to keep myself getting in my workouts during the holidays. It was also key in getting me moving on my healing ankles/legs. Even if I wasn't running, I was walking A LOT to get in my points for the challenge. It was also a fun way to meet other fitness bloggers! I hope you'll join in the fun - there are lots of prizes, too!! Here is a small sampling of the prizes that I lifted from Amanda's site:

Oakley workout pants and top
Iron Sport Works medal hanger
Be Present Tank Top
CEP Compression shorts
Ryder Sunglasses
GU
RazzyRoo headband
WrightSocks
Lululemon water bottle
SaltStick tablets
McDavid USA Compression gear
GirlZGear
IceTagID
Stonehouse Farms 27 all-natural sauces
Sahale Nuts
Lundenburg Farms grain bowls
Annie's Homegrown
Once Again Nut Butters

You can register HERE.
Please join in the fun!! I would love to compete with you all (in a very friendly way, of course ;-)

Last week as we were finalizing my holiday bootcamp, I kept referring to it as the Holiday Bootie Buster Boot Camp and then I thought, why not ask Amanda if I could use that as a temporary name and she so kindly approved. HOWEVER>>>>> Since this boot camp will continue on into the new year, hopefully as my new dream job, I need to come up with a REAL name for it. I am not very imaginative in this area and I've come up with a grand total of two names. I would love your honest opinion on them and would LOVE to hear some of your inventive ideas.

My Two are:
Julie's Boot Camp (very original, I know!). BUT... There is a Stacy's Boot Camp in New York that I think is VERY popular, so I thought, why not?

DRENCHED. For some reason I love this name. Other people in my life think it's dumb.

Ok...those are my two. What can you come up with.
ALSO...does anyone know if the term "Boot Camp" is copyrighted?? Someone told me it was...

Three Things Thursday

2011-10-20T06:13:00.000-07:00

1. It's official! My new bootcamp will be held at a local kid's hangout called JJ Jump where I'll have 4000 sq feet of room to not only make people cry in bootcamp agony, but to make them laugh as well since we will have full access to the bouncy houses for things like obstacle courses, rock climbing and a jousting arena. Can you imagine how much fun this is going to be?

2. My new women's group started last night and we're doing a study by Priscilla Shirer called One In A Million. The study is based on this excerpt: "The Egyptians in Exodus 1 were intent on enslaving the Israelites, wearing them down so that God’s chosen people would become disillusioned and not live up to their destiny. Of the original two million Israelites who received God’s invitation to enter the Promised Land, only two actually entered it!"

3. I'm still contemplating this auto-biography from Portia Nelson and what it means in my own life:

Chapter 1 I walk down the street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I fall in. I am lost...I am helpless. It isn't my fault. It takes forever to find a way out. Chapter 2 I walk down the same street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I pretend I don't see it. I fall in again. I can't believe I am in the same place. But, it isn't my fault. It still takes a long time to get out. Chapter 3 I walk down the same street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I see it is there. I still fall in. It's a habit. My eyes are open. I know where I am. It is my fault. I get out immediately. Chapter 4 I walk down the same street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I walk around it. Chapter 5 I walk down another street.

Angel's Rest / Devil's Rest

2011-10-19T05:36:00.000-07:00

Thanks for all your well-wishes on my business endeavor and your great response on compression gear yesterday. I've got BIG news about the bootcamp and where it will be held, but I'll share that tomorrow.

Yesterday I mentioned Tracy and I were heading out for a hike after hitting upper body at the gym, but when I arrived at the gym we looked at each other and said "Let's get out of here!", so we skipped the weights and headed to the gorge. It was very sunny and warm when we left Portland and just a short 20 minutes later we were at our destination. I had felt the car moving around a lot on I-84, which isn't unusual, but when we got out at the trail head we were hit with what felt like 30 mph winds. The winds chilled us right down so we gulped down our breakfast and headed up...up...up...

Gorgeous views all the way up.

The wind was ridiculous. I finally just had to put my visor away.

We saw LOTS of snakes. This one had no markings or color at all.

Don't you dare throw that snake at me, Tracy!

You know you're almost to the top when you get to this point.

The wind wiped that smile right off my face.

View of the Columbia from the top.

Tracy being brave. She's lucky the wind didn't pick her right up.

When we got to the top we took this video...where the wind actually knocked me over while I was filming...

Make a video - it's fun, easy and free!
www.onetruemedia.com

and then we got the hell outta there. Too windy to be safe, eat comfortably or hear each other talk, so we headed up to Devil's Rest and then back down to some sunny rocks to eat our lunch and then back home. It was a GREAT day! I recommend playing hooky at least once a month!

Owww...legs! It's Free?? and A Decision!

2011-10-18T05:57:00.000-07:00

Happy Tuesday! I'm all full of energy and excitement today. Let's see, first and foremost...I've been reunited with my workout partner since last Monday and we've been hitting the gym like it's our job. LOVING the workouts, but whoooooo boy...I'm sore! We did legs twice last week and then I decided to do a squat challenge on Saturday (I ended up with 300 squats in 14:46 minutes!!) and then yesterday was legs again, where we did an unreasonable amount of squats and lunges. My legs are pooped...and guess what we're doing today after our upper body workout?
We're heading out for a hike in the gorge. This is going to be the nicest day this week...and probably for some time...so we're going for it!

All this leg work leads me into these...

Last week I found out that I was going to start testing products for articles that Sarah Bowen Shea (of Run Like A Mother and Train Like A Mother) will be writing. When I headed over to pick up the current product she had for me, I thought I was testing out compression socks, so imagine my surprise when I found these babies waiting for me. Score! NOW>>>Here is where you come in...I have never worn compression clothing before so I had no idea what to expect when I ran in them. I'm just wondering what YOUR experiences have been with compression tights. Are you for or against?

Now for the real news of the day! I am so excited, I'm bursting to share it! Nothing is completely finalized yet, but I've decided to run a 6 week holiday bootcamp. I have a meeting this morning at a location that will work, but it just didn't feel perfect, so Steve talked me into checking out a dance studio down the road yesterday and as soon as I walked in, I fell in love with it. It's the perfect place to hold my bootcamp and now I'm just waiting to hear back from the owner.

After many years of toying with becoming a certified personal trainer, actually just getting the certification was a big step for me. Then, I just waited...and waited...and waited. For some reason ~~because I'm afraid I'm not good enough, smart enough and that doggone it, people won't like me~~ it has been a scary prospect for me to follow through with this. Eventually, with encouragement from my friend, Helen, watching Mary @ Fit This Girl follow her dreams and seeing Nikki step out of her comfort zone to start her own business...I just decided to go for it! I'm beyond happy with my decision. I might even go so far as to say ecstatic! All it took was making the decision and immediately all fears and anxiety disappeared. Yum! Must be the right decision, yes?!?!

Ok now...give me your scoop on compression running tights...

Monday Morning Dance Party

2011-10-17T05:28:00.000-07:00

TGIM!! Start with a dance and let it continue all day ...

Three Things Thursday

2011-10-13T06:43:00.000-07:00

1) The "children" have been at work around here...

2) I'm along for this Biggest Loser love fest with the rest of the world - Dolvett is my guy.

The other night while watching TBL, Mai asked me what Dolvett's last name was. I asked why? She said she wants to know what her future last name is going to be. HA! Even 2nd graders know a HAWT guy when they see one. She says he's dreamy. So in all likelihood my chances of being his mother-in-law are quite a bit higher than that cougar situation I was thinking of.

3) Oh Zuzana, Oh you don't cry for me, for you came from czechoslavakia to kick the crap right outta me... You can read about the latest BodyRock workout I did yesterday HERE where this loveliness...

turned me into a turnip...

The Dynamic Duo

2011-10-11T06:33:00.000-07:00

Sometimes (often!) it's just more fun to have a partner in crime.
7 years ago I met my workout partner (through an on-line fitness community based in IL of all places) and we've had an on again off again relationship ever since. With two very busy athletic children (her) and two small children (me), there were days, weeks, months, and even years that things just didn't line up for us to work out together, but yesterday we hit the gym again with a 6 month progressive plan that had us working side by side and getting right into the groove we've always had.

Fortunately, we both thought to wear black bottoms and purple tops so there was no mistaking we were together :D
For years we worked out at the same time/same place and some of the regulars at our gym were happy to see our return. The Dynamic Duo is back together again. WATCH OUT, PEOPLE!
Yesterday was legs...I can barely walk. Today - upper body...and if I get my way, a half hour of sauna and steam!

My first real experience with a workout partner was about 15 years ago. My friend, Melissa from work, and I started power walking every morning before work. This usually meant meeting up with each other at about 4:45am in order to get home and showered and ready for work. We were unmarried apartment dwellers at the time and we lived in a neighborhood where when you park your car, it's best to keep it parked or you may not find a place to re-park it. So each morning, I would get up at O'Dark 30 and trudge to her place in the spookiness of that hour. Knowing she was sitting on her stoop waiting for me, shivering with cold and maybe a little fear, encouraged me to NEVER make her wait, never oversleep, never let her down. It just takes a little accountability to keep my engine revved.

The other aspect I love about a partner is that I find more courage to give up less easily. It's easier to try something new with a sidekick. Maybe because I feel less silly with my partner by my side looking equally as ridiculous learning how to perfect a new standing on a ball with a band around my thighs squat or just the encouragement that I'm not alone in my fitness endeavors, but whatever it is...I'm glad I have my partner back.

Today, I also wanted to share this story by Rachel Cosgrove about giving up:

How Easy Do You Give Up?

October 11th, 2011 | Author: Rachel Cosgrove

Once a week I head to a hillside of stairs to do my interval workout. It is a challenging workout with 160 stairs to climb.

I am always amazed by the different people I see out there also doing the stairs. People of all fitness levels – some this is their first workout in years as they trudge up the stairs once or twice and call it a day, others are athletes home for a holiday break flying up three stairs at a time, or firefighters at the local station or mom’s making it a family outing with their kids who are joining in doing the stairs too.
Recently the city planted trees blocking the entryway to get to the stairs. There are no signs that say – “No Trespassing”, but I can only assume they are trying to keep people from using the stairs as a form of exercise. (It seems the stairs were built to reach the landscaping on the hillside, not for the purpose of giving us a place to workout).
As you walk up toward the stairs, it now appears, with no obvious path to get to them, that these trees block them. This would be an easy obstacle, if you were looking for an excuse to not do the stairs. And we have all been in the situation where you are looking for an excuse to not do something especially when it comes to exercise or anything out of your comfort zone.
Where there is a will there is a way…there is a small opening where you can squeeze by the trees maneuvering around them to get to the stairs.
A few weeks ago as I was doing my intervals and catching my breathe at the top of the stairs I noticed a couple walking up to join me. They were trying to figure out how to get up there and were not going to give up. As she stood looking determined with her hands on her hips strategizing the best way, looking for an opening, he actually started to climb through the bushes, practically climbing trees to get up there I’m sure scratching himself up. They were not going to use this as an excuse to not do the stairs today. As I came down and saw him tangled in the bushes going the wrong direction, I yelled out to them that they could get through at the small opening and they were on their way joining me on the stairs. No surprise they were great training partners as we chased each other up and down pushing each other to do “one more round.”
A few minutes later I was at the top of the stairs catching my breathe and noticed another couple walking up toward the stairs but before I could get down to tell them where the opening was they had given up and turned around. It was as if they were hoping an obstacle would get in the way – “Oh darn, there are trees blocking the stairs. I guess we can’t do them…” turning around faster than I could run down the stairs they had given up on doing what they had set out to do that morning…
How easy do you let obstacles get in your way? Do you back down as soon as you have an excuse?

Do you prefer to workout with a partner or solo?

Do you find yourself giving up too easily or not trying something new out of fear or self-consciousness?

When was the last time you kicked yourself over giving up on something or when was the last time you tackled something and did NOT give up, that made you proud? Shout it out here!!

Monday Morning Dance Party

2011-10-10T06:13:00.000-07:00

I think I'm getting sick :-(
But...The Dynamic Duo is getting back together this morning, so I can't fall back in bed...
instead...
Let's Dance...Dance...Dance...Dance!

Yowsah!Yowsah!Yowsah!

Toot!

2011-10-09T13:26:00.000-07:00

How can you not love a girl who loves to dress in pink and wear frilly skirts to the annual jog-a-thon...

girl loves to run!

...but who can still keep it real...

text I rcvd last night from the mom in charge of 6 little "ladies" at a sleepover

Adventure Race Report

2011-10-05T16:49:00.000-07:00

If you haven't checked out the Hybrid Adventure Games (H.A.G.) video yet, go to my Teaser post and check out my mad skills at minute 1:10-1:19 and check out the rest of the video just for fun! If you wind up with an opportunity to do H.A.G in your area, I say GO FOR IT!

Our H.A.G. team, Don't Stop Believin', was about 80+ strong!! We raced in honor of Nick Callahan and for The Quinn Driscoll Foundation. Nick passed away in 2009 and our race shirts honored him...

...and we (mostly Antonio)

carried Nick's longboard throughout the entire race.

Race day started a bit brisk at about 53 degrees (and the temps only got lower throughout the morning), but all complaints of shivers stopped as the games began.

2.5 miles up SkiBowl and then 2.5 miles down skibowl. I've never been at such a quiet start to a race. It was all but impossible to run and talk at the same time. It was also very hard to pass people at most points on this trail so there were times where you simply had to walk because the people ahead of you were walking.

Susie and I stuck together and managed to hit the top at a decent pace. Our plan was to wait for all remaining team members to arrive so we could snap some pictures. Here is what it looks like on a clear day...

This is what it looked like on Saturday!

Brrr. The fog was settling on everyone's hair - head hair, facial hair, arm hair and we all simply glistened like Edward the vampire...you know...this guy...

Eventually we headed back down the hill. We had let most everyone pass us at the top but it suddenly became apparent to Susie and I that we might have taken a wrong turn as we could see down to the bottom and there was NO one at all in front of us. We weren't THAT far behind. In the end, we only went about a 1/2 mile out of our way...and only had to go another 1/2 mile to return to the correct course...and only about 4 people followed us (sorry strangers) and so when we finally ran into the photographer...I was one happy girl...

Coming into the obstacle course was the scariest for me. This was my first adventure type race and I had no idea what to expect. As I made my way through the tires I felt like I was doing pretty good...until all of a sudden WHAM!!! ...I'm punched in the right boob. Hard. But by who? By my daughter, that's who! She and Jack had acquired some water balloons and they pelted me all the way through the tires and even while I was hustling (I use that term loosely) under the barbed wire. With Jack yelling at me "Don't slow down, Mama! Don't slow down! and Mai releasing the water filled missiles, I almost poked my eye out.

Eventually I lost the two little buggers and met up with my girls at the top of the slip 'n slide...

We made our way down...

...and then out into even more unknown of uneven bridges and a killer wall...that I am SO PROUD I made over...but the pride kind of squirted out of me as I fell off the other side into a heap. I don't care, though...I made it up and over on my own. Hoo-rah!

Waiting in line for the tire flip was cold...possibly because of the rain...but more likely because the kids continued to bomb me with water balloons. I flipped that tire like nobodies business. I'm seriously bummed there were no pictures of that event for me, but I felt strong and steady and that memory lives on :-)

All in all...quite a day of adventure. Quite a way to support a great cause. Quite an excuse to get out and act like a kid. Loved it! I'll be back next year...for TIME! Watch out!

Teaser

2011-10-05T06:34:00.000-07:00

Just a teaser since I still haven't done my race report from the H.A.G. adventure race this weekend. They promised us a killer run, tire flipping, keg tossing and more. They did not let us down. I managed to make it onto film but it's hard to see me (I'm just THAT fast!). Look for my purple shoes starting at 1:10-1:19 as I hit the tires, the hurdles and the slip 'n slide.

I'm off to a 4th grade tour of The Bonneville Dam as a chaperone, but will hopefully make it back from this day with ~~way too many for my tastes~~ kids all in one piece and not too worn out to detail Saturday's adventure at SkiBowl.

Monday Morning Dance Party

2011-10-03T06:30:00.000-07:00

TGIM!! It's going to be a great week!
It's feeling kind of hot in here...

Oh...What Have I Gotten Myself Into Now??

2011-09-28T09:05:00.000-07:00

My girlfriend just talked me into doing The Wild Canyon Games next June. For someone who gets lost every single time I leave the house...the geocaching part of this whole big mess is what scares me the most...but there's plenty of other stuff to be scared of.

The weekend starts with a party on Friday night. Saturday morning bright and early, three members participate in a triathlon and the other 4 members head out to do some geocaching with the snakes and scorpions over 170 square miles of desert. We then move on to the zip line, ropes course, canyon swing, blob tower to ice wall, adventure course, cliff jump, thrill water slide...and the evening ends with another well deserved party. On Sunday, we'll be doing a sprint run, cyclo cross course, obstacle course, swim, more sprinting, etc, etc.

As soon as I realized how much this was scaring me I knew I had to sign up for it. I was at a party at a Kung Fu place on Saturday and found these wise words in the bathroom.

...so I committed. Oh...what have I gotten myself into? A whole lotta fun, I'm thinking!

The second bathroom had some even more profound reading material...

Would you or have you ever signed up to do a race like this? Was it simply a BLAST??

Have you ever committed to something that scared the poop out of you? Tell me about your biggest craziest commitment and how it turned out. Did providence move once you fully committed?

Monday Morning Dance Party and A WINNER!

2011-09-26T05:27:00.000-07:00

TGIM!!

Jill at Run With Jill is the winner of the Gym Boss giveaway! Congrats, Jill. Pick out your color from their website and email me your address.

We've also got a little BodyRock competition to get started now. Both Jill and Cautiously Audacious thought they would play a joke on me and pick Zuzana's Side Burpees challenge. How could they have known that burpees are my nemesis? So girls...let's get this challenge started. It's a timed challenge and we have to do 60 total (that's 30 for each side). Get your timers started. GO!
Well...at least some time this week, GO!
I'll do mine tomorrow.

It looks like we've got some other great workout challenges coming up, too. So...
Christy,
Penny,
Michelle,
Jen,
Nikki,
Jess,
and
Jenna... I haven't forgotten you've challenged me to become a Sexy Beast of a Bad Girl with a Bombshell Butt and Balls of Fury that will make me a Bad A$$...so look for me to call you out in the next two weeks!!

Now...go get your groove on...
I'm dedicating today to all you Brick House women tough enough to take on these challenges!

Murder Before Breakfast

2011-09-23T13:20:00.000-07:00

Ugggg....I awoke to a sinus headache and simply did not want to go to my last class of my $1 bootcamp today. This class has been extremely awesome in wearing me down. I even skipped swim last night because I was just so exhausted. Oh boy...speaking of swim...

I DID go on Tuesday. It seems I have friends with a lot of different drinking styles. A few of you hardcore athletes don't drink at all (tsk tsk...the fun hangovers you are missing). A few others actually encouraged me to drink before and after. I don't think anyone offered that I should drink DURING my swim, though. The majority of you said to go get my workout on and then have a drink if I still wanted it.

So I made it through my swim. There's nothing like thinking you've perfected your stroke only to be evaluated by the pros and told differently that makes you want to have a flippin' drink. As I was leaving the pool, I became that fool that you see walking down the street texting (or in my case tweeting a congratulatory note to Super Kate who has started drinking booze as a replacement for her soda addiction :-p ) and fell off a curb and into a bike lane where I promptly had my foot run over by one lucky cyclist who I'm sure had me in his sights from blocks away. Anyhoo....more than one glass of wine was enjoyed...

My husband told me yesterday I have old hands. I told him he's currently unlucky at ~~getting any action~~ love with this old hag.

...and then I spent my entire Wednesday wishing I had just gone straight to bed instead. There is just something about watching The Biggest Loser while drinking booze or eating Doritos that does it for me. What can I say? I'm a rebel.

So where was I? Oh yes, Murder. So I talked myself into going to bootcamp and on the way I murdered a poor bird. A big bird. I bounced him right off my bumper in mid-flight and he hurled over the top of my car. I immediately burst into tears. I was just commenting to Kovas the other day that I can't even bring myself to kill spiders or ants (which is terrible for the wee girl right now as she is afraid of Mosquito Eaters and they have infiltrated our house. She is constantly in tears every time she has to go into a bathroom, which is where they all seem to congregate). My one caveat...if they are in my tent...they are dead meat. I'm not letting them crawl on me! Get REAL!
Now, I can eat a nice steak or a juicy half cooked mad cow burger...but killing animals? Not. My. Thing.

So I arrive at bootcamp in tears and find out that it is jump and twist day. Jump as in jump rope (remember that I have post pregnancy female issues with this??!!) and twist...as in ab work (my gut is so soft that marshmallows are jealous) so I almost just slid out the door without anyone being the wiser...but the thing that has happened in this one short week of bootcamp is that they've remembered my name every day, they are friendly and caring...and almost already feel like family...so since we're all so close, I let them watch me wet my pants for 45 minutes.

Sweaty and drained (literally) I made my exit. I'll miss this new family as the $1 per week preview fit my budget. The $247 per month from here forward...not so much. I'm still working on a way to swing it though. This bootcamp class really did it for me. Something completely different every single day. I talked with a girl who has been there for 10 months and she said she's only seen one class repeated in that whole time.

What say you? Have you done bootcamp style classes?

Did you like or dislike?

Were they indoors or outdoors?

What was your favorite part?
How much would you pay per month for a 5 day a week bootcamp?

For me...in this circumstance, the people (both the leaders and participants) and their style of training really won me over.

Drink or Swim?

2011-09-20T16:49:00.000-07:00

Oh man...I could really use a drink...buuuuuut I'm supposed to go to my first instructed swim class tonight in what seems like forever. Steve assures me the booze will still be available when I return home...but who wants to start drinking at 9pm? I guess it depends on your age right? Do you remember when the party didn't even get started until after 10pm???? Those days are L.O.N.G. gone. I'll be lucky if I stay awake on the drive home from the pool.

I also thought my days of public jumping rope were over (sorry...way too much info on my bladder control, I'm sure), but there I was this morning at my second day of bootcamp jumping away. This second class did not disappoint. If I thought yesterday was hard, today was simply H.E.L.L. My form was so poor and sloppy at the end that I had a bright red blush of embarrassment over top of my deep purple flush that was trying to indicate I was about to pass out. I was so happy to be done...and THEN ~~Satan's mistress~~ the bootcamp leader perkily said "that was great work, people, we've only got 2 sets left". WHAT?? I had just spread out my towel

Damn that towel!!

and sat down to drip a pool of sweat around my butt and started to stretch so I could leave.
Two MORE sets?
Brutal.
It seemed to never end...crab something this, squat something that, repeat, double repeat, twirl over onto your stomach and give me 10. Over and over and seemingly over again.
and...

I. Loved. Every. Minute. Of. It.

...and tomorrow is the only day I don't have bootcamp this week, so seems like a good night to have a drink (or two...) right?

So...WWYD? Drink or swim? Swim then drink? Swim and sleep?

How does alcohol play in your life centered around health and fitness?

Monday Morning Dance Party

2011-09-19T06:43:00.000-07:00

I'm beat! I did a little triathlon of workouts yesterday: A morning run with Deb, an afternoon hike with Mai and Ki (pictures on FB page) and then a swim last night. I'm headed to a bootcamp class this a.m. and need a little funk to get me going today...

It Never Rains At Autzen Stadium

2011-09-18T10:48:00.000-07:00

I just got home after a 4.5 mile rainy run with my friend, Deb. It was a great run fueled by a ton of pizza. Yesterday started early as we headed down to Eugene for the Duck Game.

Kim was right...I didn't need to worry about rain ponchos after all, because as you know...

...it never rains at Autzen Stadium.

Make a video - it's fun, easy and free!
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Whenever it got super noisy, I thought of my "non-shout out" last week from Nelly on the run...

Make a video - it's fun, easy and free!
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and wondered how Stanford would fare for him later in the day.

We were right next to the student section and the students dropped the Duck on his head no fewer than 5 times, so my kids went over to ~~pull his tail feathers~~ console him...

...and then it was time to go to Mom and Dad's for a 40th (gasp!) birthday party for my SIL, where I consumed 4 pieces of glorious pizza plus probably another 3 or 4 full pieces in small snippets. Do you chip away with a knife at full pieces of pizza until you've completely inhaled another adult size meal like me? Followed that up with an amazing piece of my mom's chocolate pie, said good-bye to my 20 year old looking 40 year old SIL and then rolled home...only to get up this morning to feel like a million bucks for my run. Every weekend should be this delicious.

Feels Like Fall

2011-09-16T09:33:00.000-07:00

The Halloween decorations are starting to make their appearance in unexpected places around the house...

...and our 90 degree temps have been turned way down. We even received some sprinkles on our ride yesterday...

Our treasured slip 'n slide is being shelved for the year and looking at the weather forecast, I might need to buy new rain ponchos for the Duck game tomorrow.

With Autumn comes our new tri group that we've been waiting for, though...so I'm ok this year with Summer ending.

officially kicked off this week. Unfortunately, I missed the first swim (School Open House) and I'll miss the first ride tomorrow (Duck game) and I'm sure keeping up in the off season for the first time is going to be more difficult than when I'm training and racing for a cause (The LLS) during the regular season and for a specific period of time. Will my family revolt? Will my childless coaches understand that although I want to get better, faster, stronger...that family comes first? Will my attempt to maintain a base this Fall and Winter be fruitless?

WILL I get better, faster, stronger? Will I move down to olympic distances only in 2012 or will I move up to a full IM? Will I ever give up my old comfy wetsuit even though it is chafing me horribly where the neoprene armpit holes are growing or will I squeeze into my new teeny tiny tight one? Will I ever replace the leaky goggles that I needed to replace last February or will I continue to have left eye freeze over at every open water swim? So many questions left unanswered.

...to be continued during this Fall and Winter season...

P.S. don't forget to enter my giveaway for an AWESOME GYMBOSS HERE!!!

GymBoss Rocks!! GIVEAWAY!!

2011-09-14T07:12:00.000-07:00

I finished my Grab Your Balls workout yesterday...barely.

Those 10 second breaks to write down your max reps are just NOT enough time to even catch your breath. I slowed down significantly during the last set. The workout looked like this: 3 sets of 6 exercises, 50 seconds each exercise, 10 second rest between each exercise:
1) Wood Chops -left side 8# Medicine Ball
2) Wood Chops -right side 8# Medicine Ball
3) Burpees with Bosu Ball
4) Sprint Lunges with Bosu Ball
5) Ball Climbers with Bosu Ball
6) Toss and Catch 8# Medicine Ball

My totals at the end of all three sets were:
54 each of woodchoppers
25 Burpees with a bosu ball lift
119 Sprint Lunges
192 Ball Climbers
85 Toss and Catch
I'll do this workout again next week and hope to see some improvement...especially those burpees...that's just embarrassing.

I finally added an Adventure Is Out There Facebook Page. Go LIKE it to keep up with my Zuzana workouts and other stuff that never makes it to my blog.

I'm telling you guys - the GymBoss interval timer is AWESOME!

It worked perfectly with my sweaty BodyRock workout yesterday and I can't wait to try it at the track and the gym. I'm going to give away one Gymboss to a lucky follower on Monday 9/25/11 during our Monday Morning Dance Party.

Ways To Enter:
*Be or become a follower of this blog (mandatory) +1entry
*Like Adventure Is Out There on FB HERE. (mandatory) +1entry
*Follow on Twitter @juliearts +1entry
*Tweet or Facebook or mention this giveaway on your blog (possible +3 entries)
*Tell me which BodyRock workout you want to challenge me to from THIS LIST and let's get it on!! +5 entries. (or if there are enough people brave enough to take the challenge, we'll choose the most picked workout and do a group challenge...c'mon..let's have some FUN!!!! with Sexy Zuzana.)

Grab Your Balls, You've Got Mail

2011-09-13T07:20:00.000-07:00

I've been stalking my mailman lately because I won some Moeben arm sleeves and I can't wait to try them out. Yesterday - no sleeves...but two (YES TWO!) packages in the mailbox for me! I ripped open the one from Jess first and inside was a sweet card and a Nuun bottle stuffed with different flavors of what else?...but Nuun from this Nuun Platuun girl!!

Mai has been slyly stealing mine for her soccer practices/games any time she works out...which is ALL the time. That girl likes to MOVE! Now we have 3 new flavors to try: Lemon Tea, Grape, Strawberry Lemonade and some of our current favorite: Triberry.

THANKS JESS!!

The second package was delivered surprisingly fast. Last week Eliza hooked me up with Body Rock and I've become addicted to all things Zusana. Of course I've heard of this Czech workout wonder before but I've never taken the time to get to know her. Occasionally I will see Mai and Steve watching her videos on his iTouch. Mai, I'm sure, is watching to learn new workout moves. Steve...well...you decide why he's watching...

...I'm pretty sure it's NOT for the workouts...

Zuzana uses an interval timer from GymBoss

...and I decided I couldn't live without one. Next on my list...her sandbag. I think I've figured out how to use my GymBoss and so on the schedule today is the Grab Your Balls workout.

What's on your schedule today?

Where's The Beach?

2011-09-12T06:22:00.000-07:00

Steve woke up yesterday to find the weatherman predicting a mid 90s day in Portland and a little cooler 85 degrees at the beach. We threw out our original plans for the day and headed West to cool off in the ocean. All was looking good until we got within about 2 miles of the beach. The thermometer had dropped to 58 degrees and the fog was THICK. Having forgot our sweatshirts and dressed mostly in swimwear, we headed to Cannon Beach and spent all of 1 minute on the sand before we headed back to the car and traveled a few miles North to try out Seaside. The sun was out on this side, but you could see the fog endlessly rolling over the hill. Fortunately, once it rolled over, it disappeared.

Unfortunately, the wind was so wicked that it was blowing small babies across the sand. Seriously. I think I saw a baby wrapped up in a blanket blowing towards the ocean. Some big guy was running way faster than he looked like he should be running to catch up with it.

But you know kids...

...they can find fun in even the worst conditions...even if it's just a wrestling match in the sand.

I spent most of my time like this...

...but managed to keep my phone out to snap some pictures of them finding a spot where the sand wasn't blowing in their eyes...

...chasing the waves...

...and enticing the seagulls with especially over the top cheesy popcorn...

...I kept the salt water taffy for myself.

Weekend Workouts

2011-09-11T08:58:00.000-07:00

Mai decided to run in a 5k at Thanksgiving, so we headed out for a trail run/training run yesterday at Mount Talbert in the Clackamas area.

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Today we decided to start doing more bootcamp style workouts. To be honest, if I want to teach bootcamp classes I really need to get into better cardiovascular shape for these types of exercises. This is not your endurance type of workout that I'm used to.

I decided to try a workout Bobbi posted last week and it was 20 minutes of awesome torture that you can do at home with really only one set of dumbbells needed. We used our Bosu ball for the pushups, but you could just use the floor if you don't have a bench or step. We also warmed up with stretching, some high steps and jumping rope.

1. Shuffle lunge side to side x 1 minute
2. Pushups on a bench x 1 minute
3. Jump Squats x 1 minute
4. Side lunge with a lateral raise x 1 minute
5. Burpees! x 1 minute
Repeat through 4 times.

if you dare, take 20 minutes to do this workout some time this week and come back and tell me what you thought of it.

Operation Big Balls

2011-09-09T07:01:00.000-07:00

So...the camping trip...

We had the best view from our tent. Look out and see the lake, look up at night to millions of stars.

...wasn't ALL about the kiddos...

She loves kayaking SO VERY much! I think I'm going to take her on some rivers here at home with a group.

The lake was very clear. We saw LOTS of creepy things with our goggles on.

...I had lots of fun, too!!

Ron and I even got in a couple of long lake swims...

Nothing like spending the morning on a swim with your bro with your mama kayaking along side you. Loved these swims!

...to work off those homemade berry pie (thanks, Mom!) breakfasts that I enjoyed topped with ice cream.

It was on the drive home that I started having major buttular discomfort. My a$$ to mid calf was just screaming. This injury is obviously not getting better. I was, in fact, going to make an appointment at my favorite Sports Injury Clinic last week, but we had an unexpected change in finances, and so I decided before I get myself into a couple months of deductible and copays maybe I could try harder to work it out on my own. I'm giving myself two weeks of twice daily stretching, 3x week yoga and daily working at my desk on my Big Ball...

...to see if I can get over this hump. I seriously cannot sit in my desk chair for longer than a couple hours anymore, as the pain is too great. A full day of work is just not happening. darn. :p

I DID get in a run yesterday. I made it to 2.5 miles before feeling a twinge in my back. I tried to work it out over the next .5 miles but finally dropped down to a walk at mile 3. I feel good about the 3 miles, though. I held about a 9:30m/m pace and it was probably best for my leg to drop it down to a walk then as well.

So this week has been nice. The kids are in school and it's completely quiet around here for 6 hours every day. Lovely. I even took a nap yesterday. ahhhhh....
But after school, let the games begin...I'm talking soccer games. Girl made the first goal of the season for her team on Wednesday...

Jack is less of a team sport type of guy. Last year he did archery. I'm thinking swim team or golf maybe for this year, but for this quarter, he's chosen Lego Engineering. Not exactly a sport, but I know he'll have fun!

In other news, I've joined a Womens Football Pool. Anyone have any inside information on this week's games?

SUN, SEP 11 TIME (ET) TV RESOURCES LOCATION
Atlanta at Chicago 1:00 PM FOX
Cincinnati at Cleveland 1:00 PM CBS
Buffalo at Kansas City 1:00 PM CBS
Philadelphia at St. Louis 1:00 PM FOX
Detroit at Tampa Bay 1:00 PM FOX
Tennessee at Jacksonville 1:00 PM CBS
Pittsburgh at Baltimore 1:00 PM CBS
Indianapolis at Houston 1:00 PM CBS
NY Giants at Washington 4:15 PM FOX
Seattle at San Francisco 4:15 PM FOX
Minnesota at San Diego 4:15 PM FOX
Carolina at Arizona 4:15 PM FOX
Dallas at NY Jets 8:20 PM NBC

MON, SEP 12 TIME (ET) TV RESOURCES LOCATION
New England at Miami 7:00 PM Tickets
Oakland at Denver 10:15 PM Tickets

The Last Hoorah of Summer...OR The Seven Dwarves Go Camping

2011-09-07T06:46:00.000-07:00

Summer ended on a high note this Labor Day weekend. Camping with 7 (and at one point 8) wee ones. Lots of swimming, playing in the sand, campfires, dam tours, bear shows, bike riding, kayaking, berry pie and icecream breakfasts and they even all got a turn at the wheel of Uncle Ed's boat. Now THAT'S the way to end the summer...

Enjoying popping out into the sun after being in the cold damp dam tour.

Lots of bike riding around the park.

More sand in more crevices than should be allowed.

We built our own camping bathtub!

We are monsters. Feed us!

Getting ready for the bear show.

Always a good idea to take little kids to a bear safety show right before bedtime when you're camping. NOT.

We've already eaten 3 bags of marshmallows. Better round out our nutrition plan.

C'mon already Grandmpas. Let's get this party started!

Lovin' the open water.

Dahling...when is it my turn at the wheel?

This boating stuff is fun!

Captain Silly Pants.

This is easy peasy.

Duck Duck Goose.


I haven't showered in 4 days. You aren't putting me on your blog are you?

We got home Monday late afternoon, scurried to the store for school supplies and I was SO ready for this...

yesterday morning. Yep! They are back in school. Just in time to avert that nervous breakdown I felt coming on ;-)

Gone Camping

2011-09-01T20:15:00.000-07:00

What do you do when you didn't catch enough fish to feed the kids breakfast? Well, you have a peanut eating contest, of course.

Heading out to do some more camping. See you on the flip side of this holiday weekend...smeared with bug spray and the remnants of s'mores, bellies and hearts full...ready for the new school year. Have a wonderful weekend, All!

The Stronger You Are, The Better You Feel

2011-09-01T08:45:00.000-07:00

Unfortunately...or fortunately (depending on how you look at it), since Pac Crest I've taken quite a bit of time off from any major work outs. I've run a few short runs, biked one epic 83 mile ride and then parked the bike in the depths of the garage, lifted weights on occasion, and only made it into the pool twice in August. On one hand, I'm starting to huff and puff a bit coming up the hill to our house on dog walks...on the other hand, my kids have been happy to have me around this summer.

After witnessing H2C and some exciting recaps at a birthday party the other night with some teammates who were just up in Canada for Ironman, my tri excitement juices are flowing. I see ice baths in my future again!

Added to the H2C and Canada hoopla is that my brother has decided to take up triathlon and I'm pleased as punch. We're heading out camping this weekend and he's going to try out my wetsuit for an open water swim we have planned. He is going to be SO good at this sport!

It's September and I have to say it - I am SO ready for these kiddos to be back in school. They are SO ready, too! Our new Portland tri team starts training together again in two weeks and I'm ready to get to my strongest in this next year...

Stolen from Mary's Blog today.

What has you excited about September?

Water Fun

2011-08-30T08:14:00.000-07:00

We LOVE the water around here. Sunday we celebrated my FILs 74th birthday here at the house with a little cake, a little icecream and a whole lot of slip 'n slide. The kids received lessons from one of their older cousins on a better way to ~~crack your head open~~ slide down the slide...snow disk surfing, of course.

Yesterday we decided to use the the kids' birthday gifts of entry into Wings and Waves Waterpark at the Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum.

We were there for 10 hours! It's 111 steps up to the 747 where the slides start. By the end of the day, my calves were actually cramping from the stair stepping. We fell in to bed with dreams of our next trip there. Today...another slip 'n slide party with friends, of course : D

Monday Morning Dance Party

2011-08-29T07:37:00.000-07:00

TGIM!

Ya start poppin ya fingers and stompin' your feet
and movin your body while you're sittin' in your seat

My Leg of Hood To Coast

2011-08-27T06:58:00.000-07:00

Can you believe after all that hard work Mai put into sidewalk chalking notes to Jess @ Blonde Ponytail that Mother Nature would have the nerve to send us thundershowers yesterday morning and wash it all away? Well, that is what happened. H2C started off with a bang this year with dumping rain and thunder and lightning. Fortunately the Nuun Lady Bloggers teams had a 12:30pm start so they were still ~~sleepless~~ sleeping in Seattle.

Some of you mentioned yesterday how lucky it was that Jess was going to run right by our house. Not quite so, but Mai and I were blogger stalkerish enough to drive about 30 minutes to Boring, Oregon to sit and wait...

...and wait...

...and watch...

....and try to figure out why Jess still wasn't passing us by.

At 88 degrees, people varied between thankful for our high fives and looking like they wanted to punch us in the face. The little boy with the hose was everyone's new best friend until he actually sprayed them. He was taking no prisoners.

Finally a Nuun van pulled up and parked by us and I saw Jess inside. Inside? Yes. I got her leg wrong. Darn it! This way we got to visit more, though!

I got a great big humongous hug from Marjorie at Taking It On and that was the last I saw of her until she crossed into the finishers chute of Leg 12. It was almost 10pm and too dark for her to see the sign we made her in reference to This POST ...

...but I got an e-mail later that she saw our sidewalk chalk notes - Hooray!

At the hand off it was finally My Time. Well, not really...it was leg two for Tricia @ Endurance Isn't Only Physical. When I had told Tricia I would be on the waterfront to cheer her on, she invited me to run part of this leg with her. 10pm and no sun, but still pretty darn warm. We ran across the Hawthorne Bridge and the night view was just lovely over the river, then down through the waterfront, past the Steele Bridge and made it just in time to get stuck behind a train for 13 frickin minutes!

...and then Tricia serenaded me with I Play Chicken With The Train when we started moving again. At about the 2.4 mile mark, I had to turn around...it was after 10pm afterall... and I now had to run back to my car by myself through the waterfront, which can be sketchy at night. I gave her a hug and headed back the way we had come, singing out "good job" and "lookin' good" to every headlamp I saw coming my way. About 100 people told me I was running in the wrong direction and before I knew it, I was back at my car and headed home after a very fun bloggy meet-up day.

We've Got Spirit Yes We Do...

2011-08-25T21:04:00.000-07:00

We've got spirit...
How 'bout you?

Mai and I have been having fun doing a little Hood To Coast prep tonight...

Can you guess what's going on here?

Three Things Thursday: Dexter, Canada, HTC

2011-08-25T07:30:00.000-07:00

This summer seems like it is very close to its end. School clothes shopping with Mai yesterday, Duck Football tickets arriving in the mail, and a new season of all of our favorite shows to start soon...

1) I finished my first season of Dexter last night.

Steve is hooked and I think already finished with the first 4 seasons. I took my time, started with one of the original books: Dexter in the Dark and then decided to try to rent the first season from the library. The hardest part is not actually watching the show, but rather keeping my kids out of the room where it is playing. They now are trained that if the family room door is closed, Dexter is on and they dare not enter...or I'll send Dexter after them :p
Think I can catch up on 4 more seasons by the time Steve wants to watch the current one? You know that old saying about the family that watches serial murder shows together, stays together, right?

2). I have lots of TNT teammates arriving in Canada for IM Canada. I'm jealous. I'm not so sure that I'm jealous of the race they are doing, but maybe more jealous of the massive amount of teammates/friends that are camping there to support those amazing people. I. Want. To. Be. There. For now...it's just virtual cheering.
Maybe next year...

3) Hood To Coast time is here. Lots of local friends running and lots of blogger friends, too. Between work, bedroom painting, and a soccer jamboree, I'm hoping to get out to cheer on these athletes!...maybe hand out a little candy...mmmm...sugary orange slices anyone?

What about you?

Have you succumbed to Dexter's deadly charms?

Do you know anyone racing at IM Canada? Or do you have aspirations to get there yourself someday?

Have you ever run Hood to Coast or do you ever want to?

My 7 Links

2011-08-23T08:13:00.000-07:00

Elizabeth at Running For Bling nominated me some time ago to list my 7 links. The goal was to unite bloggers (from all sectors) in a joint endeavor to share lessons learned and create a bank of long but not forgotten blog posts that deserve to see the light of day again. I think this "endeavor" is over because this tag was from some time back...so I'm not going to tag anyone, but feel free to bring some of your posts back to the light of day along with me. Because I don't have 8 million hours to work on this post, I have to admit I did not go back very far in my archives to do this...BUT HERE GOES>>>>

Most Beautiful: Picture wise, I would have to go with my hike with Dad and Bro up Mount St. Helens.

Most Popular: Based on comments, my most popular post proves you guys like to see me suffer in a Brutal way.

Most Controversial: I have to say this broke my heart a ~~little~~ lot. The day I lost the most followers was a day Michael and I shared our faith a little more on his birthday post.

Most Helpful: I'm not sure how helpful I am, but I think I got some people thinking about working on their tire changing skills when I whipped out this 2:48 Baby post.

Surprise Success: How much fun I've had doing Monday Morning Dance Party with you all!

Not Enough Attention: My dancing girl Here and definitely the second video Here.

Most Proud: Well, it has to be when I shared the day I realized I had a Butt Butt.

Actually it was probably my first Half Marathon earlier this year in Eugene. I was so happy to be running again.... Or having Mai follow in Mama's footsteps Here.

Happy Tuesday!!!

Monday Morning Dance Party

2011-08-22T07:56:00.000-07:00

Feelin' a little lazy today...like it's hot smack in the middle of summer...and I should be on the beach with a drink in my hand...

4 For 4

2011-08-21T08:43:00.000-07:00

Um...ya... that would be 4 days out of the last 4 spent at the river. What can I say? We've hit a hot spell here in Portland. After fueling with FroYo on Friday, the kids wanted to show me a great swimming spot their dad found for them at Mary Young Park. How I've never found it in all the times we've nature hiked or run in there, I do not know. The kids and Ki had such a good time...

Let's go swimming already!

Catching the waves from the boats.

Glissading down a hill.

...that they wanted to go back yesterday as well, so off we went...

A little mud bath for softer skin.

Wishing we had a boat or a jet ski.

Today I'm all about reading (I'm about two chapters away from finishing a really enjoyable book called Blue Like Jazz) and then I'm pulling out Jack Canfield's The Success Principles, which is one of my favorite self-help books of all time. Here's what is on my mind today:

What we think or what we know or what we believe is, in the end, of little consequence. The only consequence is what we do. - John Ruskin

Bad = Good

2011-08-19T10:10:00.000-07:00

Confession: I went for my 2nd run in almost a month today. You might remember I had an awesome week of Run Less, Run Faster right before I headed out to SoCal to visit my girlfriend. My left leg was bugging me, but not too badly. Then came a second vacation of camping the following week and then...well...before I knew it, almost a month had come and gone with only one 20 minute run being done. My left leg is obviously messed up. It has been since last Fall. From glute to ankle.
Today I headed out thinking I would do 4 miles, but from the start knew I should keep it to 2 miles today. The good news is that my right leg feels fantastic and fast and strong and I still managed to run a 9:25m/m!!
The bad news is my left leg really hurt the whole time :-(

The GREAT NEWS is that without feeling compelled to run long runs I have had much more time to spend on the river....

Mai had Cousin Katie spend the night last night, so we headed back down to the cove for some swimming. Now we're just waking up and heading to Nectar for some froyo for breakfast. Yum. Summer is good. Very very good.

A Day With Mai

2011-08-18T07:50:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned yesterday, Mai was needing some Mama time and so I had promised to spend the whole day with her. We did pretty good. After a quick bit at my desk in the a.m. I was ready to head out to a client's office, which happens to be right by...

...so we each had the "teensie" serving of gelato, which is really just the right size of this rich yumminess.
Mai has been wanting some new workout clothes so we headed to Sports Authority and she now has a cute running outfit that I'm jealous for...and I bought some new Frees...in the hopes that maybe this will help my left leg issues that are getting worse. It might be time for some medical help :-(

She wanted to hit up the gym in her new digs, so we headed to 24Hour for a workout - she playing basketball in the kids club and me lifting HEAVY weights. I've been doing some Afterburn workouts at home with lighter weights - doing more of a superset/cardio workout, so it felt good to hit the heavy stuff.

We decided to take our sweaty selves down to the river to rinse off and cool off...

and the kids made an immediate friend when they saw his toy...

...and then Mai tried to stand on her tube...

...and then we followed a little duck family around...

...before realizing we were late for a dinner date with Grandma and Grandpa at The Ram, where I ordered something so spicy that I woke up this morning to find that the spot where I dripped some sauce on my chin is still burning. I guess when the menu describes something as "fiery" I should pay better attention. With our bellies full, we wandered over to watch a Journey cover band play at the mall...

...and I realized I like Journey as much now as I did back in the 80s.
Which is Not At All.

We ended the night with a slumber party in Mai's new room, but I've apparently lost my slumber party spirit, as I just wanted to sleep. I remember her waking me up three times as she tried to get me to cuddle and tell secrets, but this mama was tired! I was out like a light once my head hit the pillow.

Ya...I AM that cute =D

Zombies At The Golf Course

2011-08-17T07:36:00.000-07:00

I love waking up to a house that has been open all night. The cool fresh air has invaded every inch of my house and it feels so GRAND! The sun is bright, the birds are chirping in the tree outside my office window, my coffee is hot and strong and the pile of work on my desk looks pretty small. It's going to be another great day!! I promised Mai I would spend as much of today with her as possible, ending with a sleepover in her new bedroom tonight.

Last night we headed out to my girlfriend's golf course...

for some music and pulled pork sandwiches...

and a little putt putt...

...and then it was time to head home, but first Mai wanted to visit the driving range, which required walking down a hill or taking an elevator. Of course, the kids wanted to jump in the elevator to catch some air, but (and I blame their McDonald's breakfast when we were on the road and the 7-11 slurpees they had for lunch while in the care of their father) the little fatties managed to break the elevator. While their dad started to have a major anxiety attack (he's claustrophobic), I snapped pictures of the zombie apocalypse that was going on in that small hot enclosed space....

Eventually, I realized I was taking pictures with my phone and I could probably use it to call for help...which I did. After about 5 minutes, we were saved. Now, that's fun family time!

So, I haven't talked much about running, biking, or swimming lately have I? I'm kind of in nowhere land right now. I guess I need to concentrate on some hilly running, archery, and tossing back beers...oh wait a minute...I think it's tossing around beer kegs - for my October 1st Event, but besides that, I have a feeling this summer has taken over and things aren't going to get back to normal until school starts.

You might remember that about a year and a half ago I worked my butt off and received this for my efforts...

...but I've not done much with it since then. I'm determined that I WILL continue on my dream path this year and it will probably include leading something that looks like this...

...maybe being held somewhere like this...

...but in the meantime, I've finally taken on my very first client, received my very first $$ as a personal trainer, and I feel like the ball is finally rolling...

All Hail Chuck E. Cheese

2011-08-16T15:40:00.000-07:00

The best thing about my family?
They're mine!
From Parents to Aunts to Uncles to Grandmothers to Cousins to Siblings and their Sidekicks...and all the wee ones we've produced...I know I'm incredibly fortunate to have this family...even if it's time spent together at Chuck E. Cheese. A quick trip down to Eugene last night for a family birthday and now we're back and I'm pondering where I should first try out these new shoes I scored for $6.47 the other day...

...BUT... it will not be while I'm doing this...

YES! We're going camping again in two weeks!

...or while I'm doing this...

...ok...well...I'm not REALLY running Hood To Coast...but I'm going to be out cheering on some fabulously fun bloggers like Jess @ Blonde Ponytail and hopefully (if my IT Band perks up...or calms down...whatever) running alongside Tricia at Endurance Isn't Only Physical for a mile or two along the waterfront...and maybe even catching a wisecrack in some shape or form from The Boob Follower...

...or while I'm doing this...

...at the HAG Adventure Series that my team Don't Stop Believin' is doing on Oct 1st at Ski Bowl. (anyone local want to join? It's going to be A BLAST!!!) Contact me if you're interested!

So...where should I wear them? ...I know...but for $6.47...how could I resist buying them? Maybe to putt putt tonight when we hit up the golf course for Blue Daddy's Twilight Tuesday BBQ and LIVE MUSIC?

I'm outta here.

Monday Morning Dance Party

2011-08-15T06:38:00.000-07:00

Sexy song...but it made MMDP simply because the guy in the white suit is JUST TOO MUCH...

TGIM, People!! Make it a good one!

An Anniversary, Day Camp, And A Little Known Mosquito Fact

2011-08-12T06:46:00.000-07:00

We've been together 14 years this month, married 11 years today. Happy Anniversary, Babes.

The kids have been at camp all week...

First day excitement. They are MUCH more tired in the mornings now.

Don't make me go, Mama.

He draws hearts for me every day.

...and it has been LOVELY. They're happy to be at camp and I've been happy getting caught up on work. Last night was family night, so we headed out to the lake to do a little canoeing...

...swing on the big swing...can you find Jack in this picture? It's tough because he's wearing green...

Run the obstacle course...

Toured the old school house from 1909 and found a nice sized paddle board just right for Jack's butt when he's naughty ;-)

Played around...

...and made some friends...

TO: GRAMMY AND GRAMPY...Jack's Nat'l Geographic magazines arrived and he LOVES them. We think we've discovered why Mai got the most mosquito bites at camp...see #2 on the Bet You Didn't Know page...

Fun In The Sun Blogger Meet-Up Camping Trip

2011-08-10T15:14:00.000-07:00

What a fun camping trip the kids and I had last week!! When Raina @ Small Town Runner and I realized how close my camping spot was to her neck of the woods, we knew we had to make it into a blogger meet-up. We had met once before at the OBC dinner prior to the Eugene Marathon, but this time we wanted to involve our kids. Raina wanted to know if Wednesday or Thursday would be better...I told her I would probably smell better on Wednesday, but circumstances made us wait. I had been swimming in the river a lot anyways...so I'm sure I smelled fresh as a daisy ;-)

Thursday morning as the kids and I sat around the campfire, I reminded my Dad that his campsite was about to be infiltrated by 3 more little kids. Rather than go for a really really really long walk like I had thought he would, he actually stuck around and helped us haul the kids back and forth across the river on his kayak...

...but first things first...we had some waterdog hunting to do...

...AND THEN...we decided to go fishing!
While Raina and I talked, sunbathed and tried to keep track of the non-fishing kids, my awesome mom...

...helped Matthew catch his first bass...

Mai tried her hand at it too...

...and Nathan as well...

Jack was patient and managed to spend some time doing some water meditation when the fishing poles were in use...

After lunch Raina helped the kids find good use of the kindling that was laying around...

and then we tried to cheer up this sleepy guy...

...by putting on our best faces for him...

I know...can you believe Raina let me near her children??

It was A SUCCESS!!!
What is the most fun thing you've done at a blogger meet-up?

An Interview With Mai - Guest Post

2011-08-09T11:36:00.000-07:00

Ackkkk....My head is spinning like crazy from work today. I guess that's what I get for taking two vacations in two weeks : p

I can't wait to put up a post about our camping trip and blogger meet-up with the one and only Small Town Runner but until I have time to gather my thoughts...

...please visit my guest blog (via Mai) over on Tri-Karen-Tri's great blog.

Also, don't forget to read a great guest blog from Darlene on my blog from yesterday HERE.

And...if you want to click yet again ;-)
...I just found out I was a Friday Feature on Healthy Living Blogs in June and didn't even know it...HERE.

The Great Big Bloggy Post Exchange Guest Post

2011-08-08T09:44:00.000-07:00

I hope you are all checking out the many great guest blogging posts that P has put together in the

Please enjoy a wonderful running post by my guest blogger, Darlene, from My First 5K and More...

Here’s some background on me in case you don’t read my blog:
I am not a natural athlete though I love sports. Growing up, I did not participate in anything (which isn’t odd for my generation.) In my 40′s I started playing tennis. I loved it esp the friendships that developed. Again, it didn’t come easy. In my 50′s, 2 of my tennis friends approached me about taking up running. I had never run before. We signed up for FleetFeet’s No Boundaries program. After I ran one mile without stopping, I was hooked. I signed up for a 5k, then another, and another… In 3 years, I think I ran about 50. What I liked about running (unlike tennis) is that there is no winner or loser. You compete against yourself and your own goals.

You’re Not Over the Hill…Why You Should Run… Advice for women in their later years,…(in no particular order):

Run with younger women; it makes you feel younger.

the running group and then some

All of these women could be my daughters but when I am part of the group, I feel like an equal. We are runners and cheer each other on. Age doesn’t seem to matter.

Run races, you will meet awesome people; some will even become your friends.
Mary & I after a race

Mary asked me to take a photo after a race over a year ago and we became instant friends. We have entered races together…we have supported each each through injuries. We found out that we have a lot in common, but running is how we first met.

Running gives you energy.
running one morning

I am not a morning runner. I struggle to get out of bed. I consider resetting the alarm clock every time. But I have never regretted running before work. Even after the worst runs, in the worst weather conditions, I always feel GOOD! The rest of the day always goes better. I have MORE energy on the days I run than on the ones I don’t.

Register for races, it will keep you running.
Holding My Breath for the rain to stop

Whenever I feel that I don’t want to go out for a run, I register for a race. Then I know that I MUST run. In the beginning, I was running all my races by myself. I still enjoyed the experience. Running races is motivating. Running races adds to your shirt collection. Running races gives some cool gifts (water bottles, magnets, raffle prizes, etc.). Running races gets you a free breakfast. Running races gives you a goal for improving your pace. Running races gets you out of bed early on weekends. Running races is a good way to contribute to a charity! Running races introduces you to others with the same interest – running. Running races is addicting (at least for me, it is)!!

You will get faster (to a point).
Mother's Day 5k Race '11

I finished my first 5K (April 2008) in around 37 minutes and I was thrilled. It took me all summer that year to break 30 minutes. Of course, the next year, I wanted to break 30 minutes all the time. Well, that didn’t happen but I found that if you run consistently, you will get faster. Now I break 30 minutes most of the time. I even have a PR of 27:30!! I know I can be faster but not much. Realistically, I will not run a 5k in 20 minutes!! I’m ok with that.

Age Groups awards are even more possible.
lst in AG

So… most of the runners in a typical race are younger than you. The odds are that you have a better shot at an award. I am not real fast but I have won many age group awards. Of course, this doesn’t always happen! There are a lot of FAST runners in my age group. Look at Joan Benoit Samuelson!!!!

You can run longer races.
Half in Naples, Florida

I didn’t figure this one out right away. I thought that since I was older, I could NOT do a long distance. Then I decided that I should try it. Life is short and what did I have to lose. So I ran my first half marathon this past January and crossing the finish line was one of the proudest moments of my life. I ran mt 2nd in April and I plan to continue running at least 1 or 2 a year. What about a full marathon?? That I’m not sure about. It’s not that I think I can’t. It’s that the training is so time consuming.

You may get injured and then you will start stretching.

When I was part of the No Boundaries program, they taught us to stretch before and after every run. On my own, did I follow this?? NO!!!!!!!! Why? Laziness…no time…I don’t need to, etc. Well, I have my first running injury and it SUCKS!!! I am starting to heal and before I run, I stretch. During my run, I stretch. After my run, I stretch. I think stretching is important and especially if you are older. I hope I remember this and when I am un-injured, I continue to STRETCH!

Dress like a runner; wear those cute clothes.

I don’t care that I’m 58! I’m wearing those cute tank tops and short running skirts!! I always dress for the sport. I have tennis outfits. Golf outfits. Yoga outfits! Workout outfits! So of course, as soon as I started running, I accumulated running outfits. For me, I feel like I do better when I look better.

Read Blogs (or maybe start your own.)
racing with fellow blogger AJH

As soon as I started running, I started a blog. I thought it would keep me accountable to my running. I would post my goals and write about my experiences. I could also keep track of the races I had run and my mileage. However, blogging is so much more. I learn so much by reading other blogs. There are motivating, entertaining and part of my everyday life. I feel like some of the bloggers are my friends and I think they are. I have even met some (Felice, Suzy, Amanda, Andrea) at races.

Run all year round not just when the weather is perfect.

I HATE THE COLD!! When I first started running, I quit in October when the weather got cold. In the spring, I started up running again and it took a while to get back to where I was. So the next year, I joined a gym and when it got cold, I ran on the treadmill. I DO NOT enjoy running on the treadmill!! But it kept me in shape during those cold months. This past winter, I decided to run outside no matter how cold. And it wasn’t bad. I definitely prefer it to the treadmill. I still use the treadmill when it is raining, a blizzard or very icy. But for the most part, I run outside all year long.

Use a Garmin.

I was resistant at first. I didn’t think I needed one. Then I got a Nike plus which tracked my distance and time. I used it until this past January. But it really was not accurate because it is not a GPS. I used it to train for my first half and didn’t know the difference. Now that I have a Garmin, I don’t know how I lived without one. I know exactly how fast I am running at all times. I know my overall pace. I love to download my stats to the computer to see the whole picture. When did I run the fastest, the slowest, where were the hills, when did I stop, etc. I did run my 2nd half without it and felt lost the whole time. Now I never run or walk without it!

Those who don’t will think you’re awesome.

or as they say: Even if you’re slow, you’re faster than someone sitting on the couch. Runners know that it mind over matter. You can do it if you set your mind to it. Those who have never tried think that I am a super hero for running 13.1 in freezing rain. I know that I am not and they could too. I was like them at one time – Awestruck at anyone who could finish a 5k.

JUST DO IT!
my proudest moment

You won’t regret it!
Happy Running (at any age)!

Monday Morning Dance Party

2011-08-08T06:16:00.000-07:00

Back from life on the river. It was a fantastic week that ended with a beautiful wedding and many memories made. Will recap tonight. But for now...it's back to life, back to reality...
That means...I've got some work to catch up on ;-)

Gone Fishin'

2011-08-01T07:22:00.000-07:00

...we'll be back next week...

They Make Me Keep "Tri"ing

2011-07-30T06:56:00.000-07:00

The kids enjoyed a rooftop meeting happy hour last night where we gathered with a bunch of my old teammates to talk about starting up a new tri group/club in our area. We have at least two large tri clubs here in Portland already, but this one will have more of a TNT infused flavor. I'm pretty excited. A part of our group is already doing Canada 2011 but a bunch of the team are gearing up for Canada 2012 and the rest of us are going along for the ride.

This summer has already gotten away from me. I haven't been on my bike since my 83 miler on July 4th, unless you count the little trek Mai and I made down to the waterfront the other day. I've pretty much determined my 100 miler is off for August 13th. The kids and I head out camping this week and I have no idea the next time I'll have available for my butt to meet the seat. I think that's too much time off - 5 weeks - to then try to ride 100 miles. IDK...what do you think?

Life got busy. We're moving the house around to accommodate the kids having separate rooms, which entails re-carpeting, repainting and redecorating three rooms, and all that goes along with that...like throwing away stuff we found in closets that we haven't looked at in a decade. We've added a new client to our regular business, we're trying to launch the towel business, and a good friend just got my butt in gear with my non-existent personal training business and I've now got a PT client :-)

...and I still want my kids to have a great summer with things like a camping trip!... So... I'm doing what I CAN do through Monday and then I'm forgetting it all as we head South to camp with my family and meet-up with this fine blogger friend: Raina from Small Town Runner over the next week. We head straight from camping to a wedding and then immediately back home because the kids start camp the next day. I was just thinking the other day how busy I thought my life was back in my 20s and early 30s BK (before kids) and I laughed my head off reminiscing the silliness of that thought.

Do you belong to a tri club or running club? What's your favorite part of being on that "team"?

I'm Spoiled For Any Other Mode Of Transportation...

2011-07-29T09:39:00.000-07:00

...at least on sunny days.

I think I'm done with bicycles... ;-)

Do any of you ride?

5 Minutes Of Good Compliments

2011-07-27T08:31:00.000-07:00

While I was working yesterday, Mai got busy being her creative self and set up a stand to raise money for The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (...and also a bit of a profit for herself).

I took her up on the 5 minutes of good compliments and I have to tell you it was the best $1 I ever spent. She was GOOOOOD at it...and I walked away feeling amazing about myself.

What's the best compliment you've ever received? The one that had you walking on air for a for a while...

Summertime Summertime Sum Sum Summertime

2011-07-26T09:07:00.000-07:00

Birthday Slip 'n Slide Party

Birthday Bowling

Wait for it...

Lefty Bowler

C'mon - get that split!

Bee Whisperer

Skate Park

Besties

Bathing Beauties

Cool Gym Towels Winners!!

2011-07-26T07:32:00.000-07:00

The winners of the Cool Gym Towels are Jeanette @ Journey to Health & Happiness and Kristen Brodie Sparks! E-mail me at julie@coolgymtowels.com within 48 hours to collect your prize.

Like A Dang Chicken With It's Head Chopped Off

2011-07-19T16:44:00.000-07:00

I've suddenly found myself with very little time and lots of stuff that needs to be done. Between the pet fish dying this morning :-(
and celebrating the birth of the one that was in this tummy in 2002...

today...and celebrating the birth of the one that was in this tummy in 2004...

next week, I'm throwing a slip 'n slide birthday party for them both tomorrow (and it's raining right now!), working, trying to finish the family room we just painted, re-carpeted, etc...and planning in my head what I need to pack for my trip down to SoCal. I leave on my jet plane Thursday morning and I imagine it will be with a suitcase half full of wrinkly washed clothes and half full of wrinkly dirty clothes...because the laundry situation right now is just plain wrecked!

Off to do a little bowling and eating some birthday cake now and I imagine that I'll not be back to the computer much this week, so I'll announce the Cool Gym Towel winners next week and hopefully get around to Q & A with moi sometime soon.

In the meantime, if I survive the next 36 hours, I'm home free with some time alone with this girl...

...who has been my friend for 26 years...

I haven't been on a vacation on my own in forever...and this mama is in love with the idea...and heartsick at the same time.

Monday Morning Dance Party

2011-07-18T06:48:00.000-07:00

Once in a while you might start thinking you're the odd one out...that all your friends have a signature dance move....

...and then you conclude they've got nothing on YOUR signature move of throwing your hands in the air like you just don't care and belting out a nice HOLLA...

...but whatever you do...just sing it baby...'cause remember...
Groove Is In The Heart...

Your groove I do deeply dig. Do you have a signature move? E-mail it to me and I'll do a MMDP post on all my groovy friends.

I Promise To Tell The Truth, The Whole Truth, And Nothing But The Truth

2011-07-15T13:45:00.000-07:00

My super triathlon friend, Julie at You Just Have To Tri bestowed the honor of this award? game? blogger silliness? upon me and so now you get to ask me any questions you've been dying to know about me. Do you want to know what sleepwear I wore every night for four years straight before my husband put his foot down and made me throw it in the trash? Are you wondering whether I ballooned up when I was preggers or was I cute and petite? Wonder what my job is or what I dream of doing? Am I always cheery with my kids when they interrupt my post run stretching?
Ask away. As proof that I will be honest and straightforward I am posting a video my daughter took of me this morning when I wasn't looking...she caught me picking my nose. See...would I post this if I wasn't going to offer it all up to you?

I wish I could have posted the video in it's entirety...it was actually of my son - I just played a cameo role - and it was H.I.L.A.R.I.O.U.S...but alas, he was in his tighty whiteys and he wouldn't let me put it on the old interwebs :-(

Ask and it will be answered...sometime next week.

In the meantime, my nominees for this award are so cool they don't even need real names...they just go by an inital or two and everyone knows who they are!!...
P @ Adventures of an Average Athlete
Q @ Q on the Move
AJH @ Age Groups Rock
BDD @ Big Daddy Diesel
EMZ @ If I Can't Convince You - I'll At Least Confuse You

How Many Licks Does It Take To Get To The Center Of A Tootsie Roll Pop?

2011-07-14T12:41:00.000-07:00

Don't ask this boy...

...or his mama...we're more into crunching than licking. So after a fine afternoon down by the river after church on Sunday...eating things like Tootsie Roll Pops and sugar with a little ice to go with it...

...we got ready yesterday to hit up the dentist...

...only to find out that we've got some "spots". Hmmm. I am not a perfect mother (GASP!...I know!) and there are some things that I just don't worry too much about. For instance, I'm not big on making people wash their hands before meals. Sue me.

I do make them wear bike helmets and buckle up in the car. They have to do their homework and be respectful to themselves and other people. Brushing their teeth? Well, I require it at least once a day so I can stand being near enough to them to kiss them. Apparently, this is not enough. According to the dentist, not only do they need to brush twice a day, but I need to help them. On top of that they are supposed to be flossing! What? Oh wait...I'm supposed to be flossing too...sigh.

So after a talking to (that I rightfully deserved) we headed to the local frozen yogurt place to eat sticky gummy worms on top of our froyo...

Ya...I also let them put their dirty shoes up on other people's furniture (unless I remember I'm the mom...and then I tell them to get their stinkin' feet on the floor!!!)

and then on the way home we flossed with the floss sticks they gave us.

I haven't made this brushing and flossing thing important to them...and I should. So as of today...I'm a flosser...and I will lead by example.

Is there anything you are embarrassed about in your parenting duties?

What do you let slide?

Or do you head in the other direction from this mom here and tend to take it all a little too seriously? Is there even such a thing as being too seriously dutiful as a parent? The floor is yours...

Don't forget to enter my GIVEAWAY!!!

Because My Daughter Is Watching

2011-07-13T08:26:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was to be my first track day of Run Less Run Faster and so I figured the more the merrier and invited the wee girl to go along. After a mile warm-up and some dynamic stretching, I started my 12x400s. According to the pace chart based on my recent (and only) 5k in March, I was to be doing my 400s in 2:04. My first 400 was about 1:45, the second 1:47...and on and on. When I've previously done track workouts I've used my HR monitor or gone on feel rather than actually paying attention to my times. I'm NOT a #s person...
However, I was intent on doing this right. But again...I'm not a #s person and looking up things on charts and stuff is not my strong suit, so I could possibly have been looking at an entirely wrong chart, but it was a great workout nonetheless. Half way through Mai wanted me to time her doing a 400 followed by stairs. She had been running laps, running stairs, and running up a grassy hill during my whole workout. This girl was making the peewee football camp boys look like wimps. They all kept staring at her like she was a maniac...which she is :D

My 2nd half, I finally got into a groove and hit my 2:04 pace within a second or two every time. Yay me! It sure felt better than the 1:45s I had run for the first 6 400s.

So here's the thing. I started having some pretty terrific left ?IT Band? trouble on the drive to Sunriver. I've had continuing trouble with it, my left glute, my left hammie, my left ankle since then. I have had manageable trouble with my left side all season actually. My right leg feels FANTASTIC...my left leg feels not so great. During my workout it didn't really bother me after I got started, but boy...after the workout, I had some serious achiness until I went to bed. Today it feels better, but not great.
I'm playing this by ear for now...not sure what to do.

Don't forget to enter my Cool Gym Towel GIVEAWAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So, I'm wondering...What do YOU do because your daughter (or son) is watching you?