monday, monday

i love mondays. i love having a fresh start. i love making lists and crossing things off. being productive - getting things done.

my list today:

• school (done)
• run (done)
• check out on-line deals (didn't find any great deals today, but did find a few on black friday)
  
• plan menu for the week
• grocery shopping
• bank
  
• drop off stuff at goodwill (still downsizing and getting rid of things we don't need)
• addresses on christmas cards
• bre to gymnastics
• iron shirts (i'm way behind on this. i think it's my least favorite chore.)
  
• make dinner

i better get going.

hope you had a great thanksgiving w/your family!

latest

what i thought was a cold and a cough that just wouldn't go away, turns out it is black mold poisoning. we have all been coughing and thought it was allergies or a horrible cold, but today we found black mold in the basement on our dehumidifier. yikes.

hopefully once the air clears here my running will be a little easier.

in other news:
we had a great thanksgiving. it has been nice to spend time together and lay around watching a couple movies. i watched "my sister's keeper" the other day and really liked it, but so sad. i think i cried buckets!
we're hoping to go on another cruise in february. it will be our 15th anniversary and february is always a great time to escape the snow and ice. hopefully it will work out.

this week

it's been a little quiet over here. i've been running a little bit, but nothing too note worthy. i guess that will be the case for the next few months. a few miles here and there.
lots of baking to do today. i'm looking forward to it. i'm hoping to not totally pig-out tomorrow. is that possible on thanksgiving? maybe if i was a food blogger and took pictures of everything i ate, i'd be more accountable. i remember when overalls were the thing, my sisters and i would wear them on thanksgiving so we'd be more comfortable after eating so much. so maybe if i do the opposite and wear tight pants, it will help me avoid that. ha!

we had thanksgiving w/family early this year, so tomorrow we are headed to a friend's house. there will be lots of kids and noise, but i like that.

cross-country race

finished the 7 mile cross-country race today. the course was really muddy this year, which made it even more fun. there was rope climbing, jumping bails of hay (this made me a little nervous - they were really tall and there was a pretty big jump from one to the next), several creek crossings (one was almost waist deep on me!), and tons of mud. it was great! last year was really fun too, but it was super cold and there was more ice than mud. it was so nice to run it this year in 50 degree weather.
here we are before:we couldn't believe how many newspapers took our picture! i guess we were looking awfully stylish, so who could really blame them...
here we are after:

6

a great start to the day...6 miles.

this afternoon i get a few hours to myself w/no kids. i'm not sure what i'm going to do yet. the list is always long of things that need to be done. i will probably start making a dent in the christmas shopping. our kids get 3 gifts each and then a few things in their stockings, so i really don't have too much to buy. it will be nice to get some alone time. i love love being with them, but a break is nice from time to time.

we have our christmas tree and decorations up. i know it's early. geesh, we haven't even had thanksgiving yet, but the kids really wanted to and i just couldn't say no. i love christmas!

4

4 on the treadmill.

i'm getting excited for the race on saturday. the outfits are a little crazy, but fun. it's supposed to be 55 on saturday, which is much warmer than last year for this race. last year it snowed and we were absolutely frozen!

in other news...i'm going to try this recipe for thanksgiving:

the reviews are great and it looks so good!
i think i'll need a little more running after that one though...

4

4 on the treadmill.
meant to run yesterday, but was too lazy. if i don't do it first thing in the morning, i find that the day gets away from me and i lack the energy, or get too busy. i'm trying to make it a priority. it is really better for everyone, if i exercise.

still thinking about my goals for 2010. i don't think i'm going to run a full next year. it takes so much time to train, and i don't think it's fair to my family (since i have young kids) if i am doing it every year. i'm leaning toward just doing several 1/2's and working on a pr for those.

6

oh happy day! i was able to run outside this morning.
45 degrees and pretty windy with some light rain, but still felt great.

i'm trying to get to 1,000 miles by the end of this year. i have some work to do to get there. i have 142 miles to go, so i will need to average 3 miles per day.

still trying to figure out what my goals will be for next year. i'd love to hear yours. do you
have a goal of how many miles you want to run in a year? or certain races that you want
to finish? pr goals?

in other totally unrelated news:
isn't this a cute idea for a kid's table for the holidays.
(can't remember where i found this picture.)

more treadmill and some rambling

2 this morning. it's a busy day, so i squeezed in what i could.

amidst the normal busyness, i am continuing to downsize life. :)
so many toys. so many extra clothes. so many extra everything. would we really notice if
some of it went away? i've been working on simplyfing our life for over a year now. slowly
getting rid of things we don't need. trying to say no to some things and some people, so my calendar isn't filled with something every.single.day.

it's a long process, but one i think is necessary.
all the stuff takes away from the important things in life. we end up spending so much of
our time and money cleaning it, dusting it, folding it, fixing it. and, so often it is stuff we really
don't need. how many times have i left a store with a bag of junk i didn't really need, ugh.

we have on average 70-80 years probably at most in this life.
why do we focus on things that really don't matter?
waste our days dreaming about getting a house full of stuff that just
ends up sitting in a box and we forget about? or, waste our time trying to please
people, rather than taking care of our family and ourselves?
so many questions like that, mostly for myself. all stuff i am thinking about and working on.
life is short and i really want to make the most of my time.

3

3 on the treadmill again. someone asked me why i'm running on the treadmill, if it's so nice out.
good question. i know, it's crazy. i wish i could run outside right now, since it's been in the 50-60's.
i'm home w/the kids all day and by the time my husband gets home, it's dark. i don't run in the dark alone. if i had a running partner, i'd run at night.
so, winter for me will include lots of treadmill running and not too many miles.
i guess i could get up at the crack of dawn and run, but i like my bed too much.
i also like to get the kids breakfast and snuggle with them in the mornings.

i'm looking forward to a 7 mile cross-country "race" (race is used loosely here) next weekend.
it's always cold and muddy and a little crazy w/fun outfits. i'm looking forward to sharing it w/you.
here's a picture from last year. i guess that means i've had this blog for over a year?!

4

i didn't exercise at all yesterday. it was my boy's 9th birthday, so it was all about celebrating.
it was probably good for me to take a couple days off w/my cold.

4 this morning on the treadmill. another beautiful sunny day. november has been warmer than october for us - kinda crazy, but we're definitely enjoying it.

book

has anyone read this book? i keep hearing so many good things about it and the reviews are really good.

5

i really should have stayed home today. i have a cold. i should be resting and relaxing, but that's never been my style. :) so, off i went to run 5 miles. i ran 1.5 miles and felt terrible - very sluggish. i decided i would just run/walk the 5 miles today. it definitely involved more walking than running, but i went. maybe i will try to rest today, but probably not.

3

trying to begin everyday with some type of exercise and God's word.

ran 3 on the treadmill this morning.
a beautiful blue sky today!

4 & 4

ran 4 yesterday and today on the treadmill.
didn't feel like doing it today, but i'm glad i did.

thankful for sunny skies and warmer temps this week.
looking forward to running outside this weekend.

WOW!

this article is really shocking to me! have you read it?

check out this quote: “If you’re wearing a marathon T-shirt, that doesn’t mean much anymore,” Given said on the eve of this month’s Baltimore Marathon...

Really?! i think anyone that crosses that finish line deserves to wear their medal and their shirt proudly!

i totally agree with this commenter's response to the article -

"I can see why faster, more "elite" athletes may be frustrated with the slower athletes at some of these events, but given the current state of health of so many people in this country I think it is ridiculous to criticize people for participating in these athletic events. We should be encouraging more people to train and participate in races and make fitness a part of their routine. The professionals and very elite runners can often start ahead of everyone else- and we all know they will likely stay ahead of everyone else- so it shouldn't be an issue. If staying in the "running elite" is such an issue, then go run the Badwater Ultramarathon, you won't find too many stragglers there."

this was written in response to the article.

4 & 7

ran 4 on the treadmill on friday.
a beautiful day today. i ran 7 outside. felt pretty good, even though i ate more candy than i should have. ugh.
looks like a nice rain-free week this week, so hopefully i can get some good running in.

happy november! can you believe it's already november?!