13.1 miles, anyone? Part 1

First - some background information. I ran in high school. Not really because I was good at it but because my friends ran and it was one sport I could be in and not really mess up. I'm not the most coordinated and always felt like I froze under pressure. I'm also not much into sacrificing my body for a sport so when I'd play volleyball or basketball in gym, I'd hesitate, never sure of where to pass the ball or if I should take the shot or if I should go after the ball and I never, ever dove. With track and cross-country, that wasn't a problem. You just had to run. (I didn't attempt hurdles or high jump.) In elementary school, I loved playing tag and red rover. Running fast just felt good.

I wasn't much of a distance runner. I ran cross-country basically to try and stay in shape for track and because my friends were on the team. It was a small school and they needed the extra runners, too. I always did the minimum though. I did the least that was expected and if there was a way to do less than that, I'd do it. Dedication and commitment were not strong suits. I wanted to perform well but not really put in the time and effort to make that happen. I also don't think I understood how good I could possibly be but mostly, I just didn't care. I was happy just to finish the race and hang out with the team. So if our coach said to run 4-6 miles, I did 4. And possibly took a few short-cuts.

Fast forward a few years (after college and 2 kids) - I started going to a gym to get in shape. I had been walking on a treadmill but decided one day to jog. And almost fell off the treadmill because my ankles locked up. What in the world? It used to be so easy for me! A few more years went by (2 more kids). Some friends had talked about a training program called Couch to 5k - in 9 weeks, you go from being a couch potato to being able to run a 5k. We invested in a treadmill and I started running. I met with a friend very early twice a week to run 3-4 miles and occasionally, I'd run on the weekends. I was a runner again. I wasn't fast - but I was running and it felt good. I didn't use the treadmill a whole lot. If I couldn't meet with my friend, I usually didn't run. I didn't want to get up early or shower twice in one day or run too soon after eating something. You can see how it'd be difficult to fit a run in with all those requirements.

And then my friend and I weren't able to meet because our schedules got complicated and I stopped running.

Stay tuned for part 2!

Where to begin?

Time has gotten away from me once again and it has been a long time since I updated this blog. Now I'm wondering - do I write a lot of posts in the next couple of days or do I just do a quick update right here? Or maybe a combo - a quick update but then go into more detail about some things?

The quick version of what we've been up to:
- half marathon. I ran my first half marathon! I didn't do as well as I hoped but I still like running, so that's a good thing. And I plan to run more in the future.
- baseball season started. Brendan is the only one playing this year, which is a good thing. Our calendar still feels too full.
- gymnastics program. Tori has been taking a gymnastics class for the past two years and this year they decided to do an end-of-the-year program to show off their stuff. It was well done and fun to see what she has learned.
- garage sale. My mom, sister and I had our annual garage sale here. I got to spend the week with them, make some money and get rid of a lot of stuff. Really, what could be better?
- Life Action Summit at our church. This was a revival team that came to our church and led services for a week. This will require a separate post. It's really hard to describe what that week meant to me.
- end of school. We will officially be done with our school work tomorrow! Brendan has one test left in his Bible class and then we're done! Woo-hoo! I don't know what we'll do yet to celebrate but we need to come up with something.
- sick. I started feeling cruddy Tuesday morning. I powered through the day on Tuesday but then felt awful on Wednesday - run-over-by-a-truck awful. I didn't do much Wednesday or today. Tonight I started feeling quite a bit better so I'm hoping for a normal day tomorrow. It's been hard to really appreciate being almost done with school when I'm just laying in bed as much as possible. Although, I did really appreciate being able to lay in bed and that would not have been possible if we still had a lot of work left. But it will be nice to appreciate the summer break and feel good at the same time. :)

I am questioning my decision to take a 2-hour-nap this afternoon. It seemed like a good idea at the time but now that I'm feeling better, I'm also feeling very wide awake and it's after midnight. I better start counting sheep.

Oh, no we didn't . . .

Oh, yes, we did! I think that face says it all. That is Owen, sitting behind a full size drum set. And that was taken in our basement.



Here he is in action . . .

His child-size drum set just wasn't cutting it anymore. The cymbal resembled more of a pie tin and kind of sounded like one, too.

So we took the plunge and bought a used set.

We had to set some boundaries - no playing drums while Brendan and Tori are doing school, for one. So every morning, before he eats breakfast, Owen goes downstairs to get some playing time in.

I think it was a sound investment.