Hey! It's Okay Tuesday!

It's Okay to...


Note to self: Keep endless supply of "ta-tarts" on hand.

• Be upset that your son's teacher read Ramona the Brave to the class. I wanted to read that to him!
• Think a Coke Zero and stack of Scholastic Book Club brochures makes for a perfect afternoon.
• Plan on reading and watching nothing but Christmas fluff for the next month. Hello Hallmark Movies!
• Think it's great that Grace is finally talking, but not sure how I feel about being yelled at by a demanding two-year old because we are out of her beloved "ta-tarts" (poptarts). Yes, I have seen the Pinterest posts about making your own Pop Tarts. No, I will not make my own. Kellogg's does just fine!

Head over to Airing My Dirty Laundry to see what else is okay!

5k Recap

I did it! I ran my first 5k. Well, to say I "ran" it is rather generous. It reminded me a little of child birth - harder than I expected and I hated it during, but felt amazing afterwards and can't wait to do it again. A few things I learned after running my first 5k:

If you catch the guy in the turkey suit, you get $25. Next year, Turkey Dude...

• Anyone can do it. There were people of all shapes, sizes, and age there. And I was amazed (and a bit depressed) by the amount of old people and kids that kept passing me. Using that as fuel for the next one...
• If the race is outside, you need to run outside to prepare for it. Running inside on the treadmill was 100 times more convenient for me, but running outside is very different. Especially when there are hills involved.
• Hanging out with people is very fun before and after the race, but I need to run alone. My friend offered to stay with me during the entire race, but we lost each other in the crowd at the beginning. And I was thankful. I knew I'd slow her down big time and I just wanted to focus on finishing without feeling guilty for being so s-l-o-w. It was nice to have her there at the finish line cheering me on to the end as well. :)
• You will start off too fast, no matter what you do to prevent it. I had my playlist all cued up, but ignored it as I chugged along with the crowd, then couldn't figure out why the first mile was so hard. I ran it in 12 minutes - a minute and a half faster than my usual pace! That would have been great if I didn't have two more miles to go...

Overall, I loved the experience. My main goal was to finish in 46 minutes and my time was 43:28. I'm very happy with it! But still lots of room for improvement.

Now I'm just working on getting myself back into a routine. I'm taking a brief break from the treadmill. I'm hoping absence makes the heart grow fonder, but we'll see.

So what have YOU accomplished lately?

On Turkey Day I'm Shufflin'

Go back and read the title in the voice of the guy from "Party Rock Anthem".

Did you do it?

I crack myself up.

Anyway, tomorrow is my first 5K! I'm running in the Turkey Stampede that benefits Faith Mission, the local shelter in my area. I'm really excited. I've already picked out my clothes (Black yoga pants, my Superman shirt and a grey fleece in case you were wondering) and researched the best breakfast options for tomorrow morning. (I'll be having a banana and a piece of toast).

I also put together my playlist! I chose songs that had a strong beat and would keep me moving at the rate I'm most comfortable. I knew if I didn't have something to pace myself, I'd try and keep up with the more experienced runners and then have to crawl the last two miles after I ran out of steam. I added a few songs that were a bit faster than I'm used to, but also a handful of some with slower beats to build in little breaks if I need to walk. Want to know what I'll be listening to?

• Eye of the Tiger by Survivor. My pre-race anthem.
• I'm Shipping Up To Boston by Dropkick Murphys.
• We'll Be Alright by Travie McCoy
• Good Time by Owl City and Carly Rae Jepsen
• Somebody Told Me by The Killers
• Part Of Me by Katy Perry
• We Got The Beat by The Go-Go's
• My Sharona by The Knack
• Lump by The Presidents of The United States
• Moves Like Jagger by Maroon 5
• That's Not My Name by The Ting Tings
• 50 Ways to Say Goodbye by Train
• Some Nights by Fun. (This song is very slow even for my walking pace, but I love it!)
• Rock 'n' Roll (Part 2) by Gary Glitter (I may break out in my old cheerleading moves for this
• The Rockafeller Skank by Fat Boy Slim
• Survivor by Destiny's Child
• Gangnam Style by Psy (Can't guarantee I won't do some Gangnum style dancing. Hey Sexy Lady!)
• Party Rock Anthem by LMFAO (Reminds me of my kids)

It's about an long and hopefully I won't listen to all of it!

I'm off to cook a nutritious, healthy-carb filled dinner. See you at the finish line!

Hey! It's Okay Tuesday!

It's Okay To...

• Step on the scales after working out and kind of expect to have dropped about 30 lbs. Hasn't happened yet.
• Put your Christmas tree up BEFORE Thanksgiving.
• Not be a fan of Thanksgiving. The idea of setting aside a day just to stuff yourself with food irritates me. I think the whole idea of gratitude is totally lost. And Thanksgiving food is gross.
• Show your son that when you cover up the "e-r" in the word "butter" it spells "butt". And then act shocked when your son points it out to your husband.

Head to Airing Your Dirty Laundry to see what else is okay!

SPJ: Refocus

I've been avoiding you my dear, sweet Secret Public Journal readers. I've blogged many times in my head,  but I don't want to put it out there. It's too private and melodramatic. I'm not sure exactly how to start this so I'm just going to type and see what happens.

I started this fitness journey strong. I exercised regularly, ate better and was feeling great. I expected my enthusiasm would wear off eventually and tried to prepare myself mentally so I wouldn't quit when that happened. I signed up for my first ever 5K as motivation and waited for results for my hard work and dedication.

In the three months that I've been working at this...

• I thought my skin would clear...it's gotten worse.
• I thought I would lose more weight...I'm only down 13 lbs.
• I thought I would drop more pants sizes...I'm barely down one size.

I'm discouraged and anxious and I hate my treadmill. I knew I'd hit a wall, I just didn't realize I would hit it so hard.

It's all about my focus. Right now I'm looking at what I still have to accomplish and it seems impossible. Unachievable. Hopeless. But I need to remember how far I've come. I'm at the lowest weight I've been since before Brenna was born four years ago. My usual treadmill workout is jogging two miles. Three months ago I couldn't jog for two minutes. To quote Joyce Meyer,

"I may not be where I want to be, but thank God I'm not where I used to be."

 

Time to refocus. Visit my pinterest Goals board regularly. Shake up my routine. Add new music to my playlist.  I will get there.

Saturday Linky Love

I've always loved linky posts - where people put links to posts they've read and enjoyed over the week. So I'm joining in!

• 15 Ways to Get Organized: 10 Minute Tasks at The Happy Housewife
• Holiday Hands at Momastery
• Get Past Those Habits That Drive You Insane at Time -Warp Wife 
• How My Definition of Professional Motherhood has Changed by Steady Mom 
• Supination in Children with Hemiplegia at CHASA (Hemiplegia is the paralysis of one side of the body. Grace has a less severe form, hemiparesis or weakness on one side of the body. Her Occupational Therapist has us do supination exercises with her left arm so it was nice to get new ideas on how to do this!) 

So, what did you read this week? 

Hey! It's Okay Tuesday!

It's Okay to...

• Order the books you are giving as Christmas presents early so you have a chance to read them first.
• Vote for who YOU think is the right candidate - not what's popular with your friends/family.
• Listen to music during dinner. Not because you like the ambiance, but because listening to your family chew makes your skin crawl.
• Be putting Hallmark Holiday movies on the DVR already.
• Not blog for long periods of time. :)

Find out what else is okay at Airing My Dirty Laundry!