To run or not to run....that is the question.

Jenny and I are reading through the Little House on the Prairie book series for the second or third time. We love those books. Not long ago we finished reading The Long Winter. This family endures blizzards every three days from October until April and then the train can't get through and they almost starve until Almanzo goes out into the blizzard to find wheat and saves the day. The end.

Actually my point was that I feel like we are in the long hard winter. My kids are wondering for what seems like the tenth time this year if we are going to have school tomorrow. Enough already!

I had decided to be brave and run outside yesterday morning until Shane came in from getting the paper and said "You could run outside if the wind wasn't so bad!" Well that was all the excuse I needed and I decided to head to the gym after carpool. But just after letting Will out of the car my phone binged with a text. " It's really not that bad. You can do it. You are awesome!". Well. I can't have my man thinking I'm not awesome so I head to Strawberry Park to knock out two miles.

There is a pond at the park and the track snakes it's way around it. I really like running there. There are lots of geese and ducks and a cute little chapel. It's pleasant. Yesterday morning when I drove up this little guy greeted me.

I think he's a duck but I'm not sure. He just kept sitting there staring at me. He was either asking me to put him in my warm car or wondering what the heck I was thinking.

I usually get out of the car and stretch and then visit the restroom and then stretch some more and then fix my music and then start to run. Not yesterday. I opened the car door and took off and didn't stop until 2 miles later when I jumped back in the car and texted Shane. "It is too that bad!"

In addition to my new friend pictures above I saw a couple of other interesting things on the frozen tundra yesterday. First, I saw a woodpecker. I'm not sure I have ever seen a woodpecker that close before. He just casually hopped across the path. He was so vibrant and pretty and it made me smile. On around the track, back in some trees I noticed the hind end of a large brown bird. I couldn't figure out what exactly it was until I was right on it. Then it turned and looked at me. It was a huge owl and it took off just as I ran past. And hanging from it's talons was a big ole squirrel! It looked so sad hanging there being taken off to it's demise. Poor squirrel. What a strange morning!

Im glad I ran yesterday though because it was inevitable that any conversation would turn to the weather. So when someone would say, "Wow! Can you believe how cold it is!" I would say back, "I know! When I ran this morning I could barely feel my legs!"

Is that obnoxious?

Schizophrenic Playlist!

Today was a victory! It has been 9 days since I last ran. I have had to lay low because my hip pain. I have done the stationary bike enough to take me to Orlando and back and have done weights to try to strengthen my hips and 9 days later things seem somewhat back to normal. I was able to run today pain free!! I only did two miles but was so happy with that. I feel so good tonight and am thinking again that I might actually be able to do this race. I am planning 5 miles tomorrow so we will see how that goes.

Most of my runs since Christmas have been solo runs. Jill's and my schedules have not matched up the last few weeks and I had to lay off and miss the last group long run. My iPod and I have gotten reacquainted over the last few weeks and I have made a discovery.

It's possible I'm schizophrenic. At least where music is concerned. Here is a list of the songs I listened to in the 25 minutes it took me to run 2 miles (that's a 12:46 pace-just in case you were wondering).

1. Popular from the Wicked soundtrack

2. Trumpet of Jesus by the Imperials circa 1978

3. Showstopper by Toby Mac

4. Dancing Queen from Mamma Mia

5. Nineteen Something by Mark Wills (funny little country song)

6. Hold on by Toby Mac (This one was torture and is probably what made me run faster-trying to outrun this song. This one has got to go! One Toby Mac song too many!)

And to round out my 2 victorious comeback miles......

The Training Montage from Rocky IV

Gaining information from a nine year old

******First of all, I mentioned before that Santa had been good to me this year. It was actually Shane who was good to me and surprised me with a much coveted iPad!!! I was (and still am) so very excited! I need it you see to blog from Disney World at the race! I am trying out several things on it today so if it looks a little weird, hang with me as I figure this out!

My daughter Jenny,who is 9, is running the 1 mile fun run at the Mississippi Blues marathon tomorrow. Shane and I have always thought she would be a good runner. She is pretty fast and she is very internally motivated. She has what I lack, that internal desire for competition. She is not a team sport girl, but I think track might be right up her ally.

I needed to get a short run in yesterday and she wanted to practice for the race so we decided to go together. I told her we could run a one mile loop and she could stop a when we got back home and I would keep going. Not to be outdone she decided she could do 2 miles. So off we went.

If you are looking for information from a nine year old just take her on a jog! She's a talker anyway but gracious!

Here we are about to leave. Please ignore the multiple rolls on my neck. It's the way I was standing. It's the way I was standing! IT'S THE WAY I WAS STANDING!

Here is the information I gained yesterday:

-One mile is the same as 4 times around playground one at school and she already did that once today.
-Every class room now has a recycle been in their room and when it's full you dump it in the big trashcan at the end of the hall. It's her opinion we need one of the big cans for our house "cause we have so many cans in our recycle bin- we drink a lot of stuff in cans". By "we" she means "you mom". The resolution to decrease diet coke is not going so well.
-Something fell on Grants hand and a screw went all the way through his hand. (This I never could figure out completely but I feel the need to check on Grant!)
- Her side hurts
-Her birthday is only 7 weeks away and that's good because if she forgot to ask for anything for Christmas she can still get it in.
-It seems like everyone who works at school is either Shania's cousin or uncle.
-She can't wait to get her race packet. Hope it's good stuff (lots of good stuff by the way)
- Her side really hurts!
- She's planning on selling like a bazillion girl scout cookies

-You're not supposed to look but she peeked at her report card on the bus. She didn't tell anybody what it said but she did yell "YES!" with accompanying fist pump.

-Can we just walk home please?

This just a small sampling of the wealth of information I gained yesterday. When she is 15 and doesn't want to talk to me at all I'm going to make her go jogging with me!

Cause the girl can talk!

Best running Song. EVER.

Today was just a short 2 miler. Needed to get back on track. I was supposed to go with 3 other girls in our group but needed to stay close to home to wait on a delivery man. I decided to do some practice on my walking (another post for another day.) I did pretty good and was keeping a good pace both running and walking. I was just short of 1/2 mile home and had about decided to walk home when this song came on in my shuffle rotation. Can you name that tune?

Burnin' up

Don't know just how that I can go

Soon be home

Only just a few more miles down the road

I can make it

I know I can

You broke the boy in me

But you can't break the man!

DANG IT!

(ok I added that last line)

I looked down at my pace when that verse was on and I was running a 9:50 pace. I have NEVER run that fast in my life. I must play this song on the last leg of any solo run. It spurs me on!

Can you name the song. If your less that 35 probably not-let me know if you know it!

I can feel it burnin' in me!

Tinkerbell Sleeps In!

There is a flashback scene in an old (very old) episode of FRIENDS in which Rachel has been stood up for a school dance. She is standing at the bottom of a flight of stairs crying, "He's not coming!"

That was me this morning at 5:30. Standing at the bottom of my driveway crying. "She's not coming!"

Ok, so it wasn't quite that dramatic but the fact remains- Tinkerbell stood me up!

However this wasn't such a bad thing as it brought me to a point of personal decision. You see on Monday morning I set my alarm for 5:00 intending to get up and run early by myself. Well, it doesn't take much to figure out what happened. Well, actually not much happened at all. Turned it off and slept for another hour and a half. The thought of running by myself in the dark was not appealing.

So....there I found myself this morning. In the dark, sleepy and at the point of decision. To sleep or to run was the question and I chose to run. Let me repeat.....I CHOSE TO RUN!

This was a big step for me. As Jill put it.. "It shows a lot of growth." I'm kind of proud of that. I ran 2 miles. Mostly. Walked a little. It had been 3 days since I had done anything and I was nervous I was going to take a big step back. But I did ok.

I would still much rather run with Tinkerbell, but I didn't hate the run this morning. So... thanks Jill for giving me a little boost this morning without even knowing it. And just remember....

I get one free pass now!

Two miles..sort of

Well I had a terrible run yesterday. It was the first time I had run since my mile break through and I was pumped! But I took a left out of the driveway straight up the hill. Big mistake! It was terrible. I couldn't do the mile. So discouraging!

So I tried again today and guess what! I did two miles..sort of. I did a solid 1.4! No stopping! Then I sat down on the sidewalk and rested. Just plopped my hiney down and sat there. Then I ran the .6 mile home. Huge boost! Can't believe I could do that so soon!

Lesson here: Always take a right out of the driveway and avoid the hills at all cost!