2011 Revolutions

Resolution can be defined as "the condition or quality of being resolute; firmness or determination." And revolution can be defined as "a drastic and far-reaching change in ways of thinking and behaving." So, for 2011, I have decided to resolve that I will make revolutions in my life. I want to be determined to reach my goals and I want my goals to reflect a drastic change in the way I think and behave.

For the year 2011, I intend to aspire to the following goals...

- Improve my running form, speed and skill

- Work towards increasing my strength in my upper and lower body training sessions.

- Run 6 half-marathons. (I have already chosen 4 for next year and have them split to three at the beginning of the year and 3 at the end of the year)

- Spend more quality time with family

- Continue working towards my weight loss goals

- Be more diligent with my nutrition on a daily basis

- Pay down our debts

- Encourage my husband to pursue his dreams and goals

- Plan an outing each week that involves being active (hiking, trips to the beach, etc....)

- Get at least 8 hours of sleep each night

- Make time to connect/reconnect with dear friends that I do not get to see often enough.

- Make more time for reading

- Give blood at least every 60 days (you can donate whole blood every 56 days).

- Continue to find ways to serve others in our community

- Improve my shooting skills

I think it's a pretty well-rounded and fair list. Some goals are more specific than others and I am certain I will come up with more throughout the year. But I intend to make the most out of 2011. I will live this life to the fullest and spend more time enjoying what I have been given!

Learning to Shoot

So, I have a bucket list...well, not exactly a bucket list, but a mental list of things I would really like to experience in life. One of those things that I really wanted to experience was learning how to shoot a gun. I had never actually held a real gun until about 3 or 4 weeks ago at my friends' house. It was then decided that I was going to have to go shooting.

This past weekend was my outing :) We made a stop at the gun store first and Ann and Charlie got their anniversary gifts....Charlie got a new Walther P22 and Ann got a Walther PK380 with a laser sight. Then we went out to Charlie's parents' house to go shoot. Ann is fighting walking pneumonia right now so she was not going to be able to shoot with us. So, it ended up being Charlie, Chuck, Gramps (Wayne) and I shooting.

We walked back out to their area and grabbed some old 6x6 tiles and lined them up and started shooting. Of course, I had to shoot first. So, Charlie picked a gun, loaded it and showed me how to shoot and got me started. My first shot, I was so nervous and I was shaking. I could hear my heart beating in my ears. I aimed and pulled the trigger...the sound of the shot made me jump a bit. In fact, after a couple of hours of shooting, I still jumped a bit whenever I heard the gunshot.

I didn't think I was very good. But I was shooting down at 6x6 tiles...I had no idea that normally targets would be bigger, so for me to be hitting the targets was actually pretty good. I shot several different guns...a Ruger 9mm, Walther P22, Walther PK380 with laser sight, a 12-gauge shot gun with pistol grip, and a Smith & Wesson 22. My favorites were the Walther P22 and Walther PK380 with laser sight. After shooting for awhile, I got pretty comfortable with the guns.

I really enjoyed shooting more than I thought I would. I would love to go out and shoot again. I am thinking once I get more comfortable with it, I would like to own my own gun. Out of my two favorites, I enjoyed the Walther P22 the best! So, I definitely intend to head back out to Gramps' place and shoot again.

I was not the only one shooting though. I was with 3 men who shoot very well. Gramps was pretty awesome. Charlie was a great shot too! And Chuck was impressive. I had great teachers :) And I had a blast hanging out with the guys!! I felt like I was getting back to my country girl roots!!

So, what's next on my experience list...I don't know. But I do know that I do intend to live life to the fullest and experience all that it has to offer. I don't want to miss out on anything. Life is way too short to let other people tell you who you are and what you ought to do. So, for me, I am going to stop pleasing others and start enjoying life!

Post-Thanksgiving Fitness Challenge

Okay, so after the gluttony of Thanksgiving, I have decided to challenge myself next week and thought I would pass this along to my other fitness friends!!

I usually strength train 3-4 days a week. This coming week, I will be doing 4 days of strength training. And I try to get an hour of cardio in 5-6 days a week. So, my challenge for the week to burn off some extra calories is two-fold.

Step One....This next week, I have to be 100% perfect with my nutrition which means no cheat meals at all. (I think this is doable because the thought of eating anything unhealthy makes me want to vomit!) It means, I have to do everything according to plan without any variations...all of my meals, snacks, supplements, vitamins, etc.

Step Two....Since I normally try to do an hour of cardio every day, I am going to try doubling up at least two days next week. This means that I will be getting 2 hours of cardio in. Now, this doesn't have to be done all at the same time. I plan to try getting some morning cardio and some afternoon cardio in. Honestly, I am thinking that if at all possible, I am going to shoot for getting 4-5 days of double cardio. I think I can do this and I really want to just kick my butt this coming week and get myself out of the rut that the past few days have put my fitness in.

So, fitness-minded friends, what do you think? Are you up for a challenge?? Can you handle it??? Go forth and be healthy!!

Where Does the Time Go...

Wow...it's hard to believe it has been a month since I last posted anything. Life has just been so very busy and there is so much to do and so little time to sit and write. Some days that is a good thing but other days, it becomes a frustration.

So, what's been going on?? I am still working at Staples part-time. And I am still keeping Jacob and Jillian at least one day a week. I do so enjoy our time together. I love their sweet spirits and have a blast playing with them!!

I have a new trainer now. Tye accepted a job elsewhere and I had to try out a new trainer at the gym. Luckily, I adore my new trainer, Tripp. I admit I was very skeptical at first. I was nervous that he would not be what I needed. It turns out that I was very wrong because he is exactly the trainer that I need right now. I love his enthusiasm and I love his wisdom. He has given me some amazing advice in regards to nutrition and supplements. And his workouts are just plain awesome. I am reaching muscle failure quite often and I am finding myself sore for a few days after our workouts. All in all, I absolutely think this change was a good thing. (And for a girl who is not fond of change, that's really saying something!!) I find myself even more excited about training than before. My time with Tye was precious and we did great work together. My time with Tripp is about learning new things and pushing myself further. I cannot wait to see how things progress!

I am relearning things in regards to running. It has been so frustrating having to rethink the way I used to run and having to relearn the proper form and improve my running. But I am thankful that I have the opportunity to do so. I am also thankful for my friends who run that help me to continue to push forward and continue to work on improving my running. They challenge me and keep me going in so many ways. I just did a 5k this past week and now I can see some things I need to work on in order to improve. Every race, I learn more about myself and my running. Some days and some races, I get frustrated and want to quit, but I persevere. I am not a quitter. I have to keep pushing.

I have also been spending lots of time with my friend, Ann. I have enjoyed helping her with several projects at her house. I love being able to use my talents in the art of organizing as well as painting to help others out. And I have really enjoyed the quality time that I have been spending with Ann and her hubby, Charlie. I do love the both of them...they're so much fun and so awesome!!!

And I got a brand new tattoo this past month. It's a 13.1 with flowers to represent each of the half-marathons I have completed. I LOVE it!!! So awesome!! It's totally different from what I was looking at getting, but I am so thrilled with the concept that Matt Terry (my tattoo artist) came up with!! I cannot wait to run more half-marathons and add more flowers!!! And I love the fact that this tattoo is a one of a kind piece of artwork!!

Other than that, life is just keeping my quite busy. It's been a strange year, but I really feel like I am growing into myself and learning even more about who I am and who I want to be.

What's in store in the next month or so...to be quite honest, I have no idea. I am just trying to stay in the here and now. I do know that I will be looking for another half-marathon to run at the beginning of next year. As for anything else, I am up in the air.

Myrtle Beach Mini Marathon Race Report

I had a great weekend and enjoyed getting to race with Cathy again. I love starting out with her. I know I cannot keep up with her because she is faster than me but I enjoy starting our race out together! She also gives me that nice kick in the butt I need on race day (literally!)

I have to admit that I started this race out once again stuck in my head. Lately, this has not been a great place to be. I continue to struggle with whether or not I want to keep racing, much less running. I also worry about this repaired hip and when and if it will ever be back to 100%. And for some reason, I keep fixating on whether or not I will be able to finish when a race sets a time limit on it!! Ugh!! So, going into a race with these thoughts churning around is not a great feel. Luckily, I also remember my friend, Ricky's last e-mail about my 10-k and his encouragement and I worked on re-focusing!

Saturday morning, I decided to focus myself on a thought from a good friend...”Shut up and run, woman!” LOL! It was a good focus. The morning was perfect for the run...great temperatures and a great course. I was running with a brace on the left knee and a knee strap on the right knee because I had been fighting a little bit of knee pain. I was a bit concerned since I had not run with either of them on before but I had worn them prior to the race to get used to them.

I was on my own for the first 4 miles...I ran as much as I could and then walked in between and kept a really good pace. I refused to look back to see if there was a shuttle following because I knew there was nothing I wanted behind...my medal was at the end of the race and ahead of me. So, I kept my focus on a couple of ladies who were running a similar pace to mine. The first 4 miles were mental for me again. I struggled with just giving up and accepting defeat around mile 2. Somewhere around mile 3, I remembered that I have everything in me to complete this. I have done my mileage and my long slow distance days. The only thing I needed to do was get out of my head and in to my run. So, I decided to kick my own butt. It was also around that time I saw a shirt that read “Dead Last Finish is better than Did Not Finish” So, I knew that I was in it to finish no matter what.

Around mile 5, I ended up running and walking with the ladies that I was following. Of course, I enjoyed some great conversation and made the miles and the time pass quicker. I started feeling some real pain in my left hip around mile 8...I started walking a bit more at that point but did not slow my pace. I also started to feel some blistering happening on my feet. And of course, I felt the urge to pee early in the race. I decided unless the urge became overwhelming that I would not be making a port-a-potty stop since every time I passed one, there were lines. One of the ladies decided to pick up her pace, so the other lady and I continued our race together. It was a good choice because it was her first half and she was struggling. So, we encouraged each other.

I could have left her around mile 12 but she started to really struggle around then and I wanted to help her cross the finish line. She kept looking backwards, so I re-focused her and then we began pushing each other to the finish line. When I finally saw the finish line in sight, I knew I was home free. I had reserved a little energy for my finish. I wanted to make sure I could run across this finish line! So, I took off and finished it strong. I was sore crossing the line but my knees and my hip were not dead.

There were about 4000 people registered for the race. So, I feel pretty great to be one of the 2699 runners to finish the race!

I learned a lot too. I know that I am not 100% recovered from surgery yet and cannot expect to repeat my best time just yet. But I was thrilled to finish this race in 3:16:11 since I finished Nashville this year in 3:19:25. So, with a repaired labrum in my hip and a lot of hard work, I knocked 3 minutes off my time. I figure there is only a matter of several more months and training and I will be hitting under 3 hours since my best time was in Columbia (February 2010) at 3:07. So, I have a goal in mind and that gets me more focused.

In the next couple of months, I will be working with my friend, Chuck, to improve my form in running. Before I tore my labrum, I was on the track to running better. And now, I am struggling with overcompensating for injuries and I am back to square one. Now that I have a good half under my belt and the confidence to head towards my goal of under 3, I will get some great training in and some refocusing and my next half I will be pushing myself even harder across the line!! And I will be reminding myself yet again, that I am so not done with running or racing.

Overall, I felt that they did a great job with the race. Absolutely no safety concerns while running. The police kept the roads clear and I didn't have to worry about being run over. There was also plenty of water and gatorade on the course (and not red gatorade! LOL!) It was a pretty flat course too. I really enjoyed it and am considering running it again next year. I hate the technical shirt...the design was just dull. The volunteer shirt looked much better. But the medal was huge and really heavy! So, I guess they spent their money on the medal. All in all, I felt it was a great race and will likely do it again.

Doing What I Can....

"Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do" -John Wooden

Love this quote that I just found. And it is so fitting for where I am right now in my running. I admit that I don't like the fact that I have had to start over in my running. I liked where I was prior to hip surgery (minus the pain/frustration with my hip). I was becoming a much stronger and better runner then and injury really has completely sidetracked me and forced me to start all over. Ugh! But with a repaired labrum in my left hip, I have to be careful about overdoing it and I need to challenge myself too. It's a strange predicament to be in! I mean, seriously, how do you challenge yourself without pushing yourself a bit further? That's where I am and what I am working on though.

I did get a really cool present for my birthday from my dear friends, Cathy and Robert...a Nike Ipod Sport kit. Here is a pic of the sensor that goes in your Nike shoe or if you are like me and have another brand, in your shoe adapter that attaches to the front of your shoe by the laces. There is another piece that you plug into the bottom of your iPod and you use it when you run.

You start your workout. As your run or walk, the sensor sends information to your device, tracking your time, distance, pace, and calories burned. If you choose, real-time, spoken feedback can even alert you to milestones throughout your workout. Then you download the information back to the Nike website and it gives you all your workout details. You can track all your info. At the website, you can set up for coaching for certain goals or races. You can also join challenges or set goals for yourself. All in all, I am pretty impressed with this. I have used it multiple times and it is such an awesome tool to aid me in my return to running!

I will also be getting another new tool in my training. Tye informed me this past week that he will be leaving the gym for a better job offer. I am so happy for him and very excited about his opportunity. However, I am terrified about what this means for me. I still have 4 months of training left. I am going to try a new trainer out on Friday and feel him out and see if it is a good fit. I really hope that it is, because I would prefer to not have to cancel my training contract early. I already knew I was not going to renew when it was over, but I wasn't prepared to lose Tye this early. So, I will keep you posted on how the new trainer and I work out. I have always said that choosing a trainer is similar to dating, if you don't get a good feel for the trainer, then you are not going to work hard for them. I am very apprehensive, but I also feel this may end up being a positive thing too. So, for now, I am reserving judgment. We shall see!

Today, Cathy and I got together for our long slow distance day. The original plan was to shoot for 8-10 miles. We ended up doing 11.5 miles. And some of those miles included some insane hills!! I felt pretty good about today. I worked hard not to overwork the hip but also challenged myself too. This week, I am hoping to get 3 days of running in with about 3-4 miles each day. And then on Saturday, we will be doing another long slow distance day and our goal is going to be 12-14 miles.

And after our mileage today, I was a good girl. I did a long period of stretching to help ease up the muscles. Tonight, I am icing the hip and my knees to relieve any stress and inflammation. And I took some Advil to ease the irritation. Hopefully after a good night of sleep, I will be recovered and ready to hit some more mileage in tomorrow.

Anyways, my new goal for the half in Myrtle Beach is no longer trying to beat my times from previous halfs. I am no longer stressing over time or trying to compare myself to my pre-surgery running. For now, I am relearning my love of running and rebuilding my endurance. Any other races that I do this year will go in the same category. The past 10k and 5k, I pushed myself harder trying to compete with my pre-surgery running and it didn't work as well. So, I decided to be more realistic. Also, Chuck has been coaching me some on my running and has finally beat that into my head! I am relarning running strategy and building endurance. And I am excited about Myrtle Beach at the end of the month! Now, I just have to get my mileage in every week and plan for some recovery miles each week too!

Well, it's been a long weekend and I am so ready for bed!! Time to let the body get some recovery in!!

Happy Birthday to Me :)

So, Monday was my birthday. Those who know me well know exactly how old I turned. For those who don't know me that well, my birthday cake had candles for my age and they read "25". LOL :) Anyways, it was a pretty great birthday this year.

I woke up to many, many Facebook birthday greetings, phone calls and text messages from friends and family. Jason treated me to a great breakfast at Cracker Barrel. It was delicous :) Then I chilled at the house for awhile and got myself ready to go pick Chuck up for the celebrations that night. I drove out to Chuck's parents and picked him up. We were supposed to meet Jason for lunch but got a later start than we intended. So, Jason had to grab lunch without us so he could get back to work. Chuck and I went to my favorite Mexican restaurant for lunch. It was so yummy (as usual!!!)

After lunch we headed back to my house and hung out. I had to be at the mall to see my Clinique consultant, Charity. She promised to do my makeup for dinner that night. So, I enjoyed having my makeup done and she did an amazing job. She is such a perfectionist but my makeup looked amazing!!

We headed out to dinner at Outback. I was blessed to have my dear friends with me to celebrate. Cathy and Robert, Jess and Josh, Meghan, Chuck, Jason and I celebrated with delicious dinners. Then, my birthday cake was a New York style cheesecake with cherry topping. I made it on Sunday because I could not find exactly what I was looking for at any of the local bakeries. It was so good. Wow...I cannot even recall eating a more delicious cheesecake and I am not saying that because I made it. It was perfect and looked pretty perfect too!! The cheesecake didn't crack at all :) It was so good that I had to send all the leftovers out of the house!!!

I enjoyed my birthday dinner. I ended up the day with several episodes of True Blood. It was a pretty awesome day and I really had a blast!! All in all, I felt pretty special and it was great :)

Here's a pic of me with all my friends after dinner!