Ahhhh….blog.  Dear blog.  How I have missed you.  To what do you owe the honor of my presence?  Ermmm….let’s see.  If I didn’t archive this experience for the entire world to see, the world would be incomplete.  Indeed.

Yes world.  We strapped on some plastic butts, pulled up our tutus, and laced up our tennis shoes, for a Warrior Dash.  Let the craziness begin.

In case you didn’t know, the Warrior Dash is a 5k race laced with 15 obstacles to navigate.

I don’t have too many pics of us on the obstacles because we were actually ON them….

……or in them.

And then there were the costumes.

We were the Red, White, and Blue Mooners.

We got dirty.

We got crazy.

We laughed really hard at stuff. 

We met the Avengers.

Most of all, I had an ahhhhhmazing fun time with two awesome girls.  Thanks Bri & Kelly for being my friends! 

Three Girlies Take on the Triathlon!

Yesterday, the Three Girlies added bikes and running shoes to their awesome swimming talents, and did a triathlon!

They all wore their new team warm-ups so the Yokota Stingrays could represent!

Unfortunately, Allie (the middle girlie) attempted parkour over our living room couch the night before and sprained her wrist….so she became the official “transition assistant” for Amber.

My pictures of this event are lacking.  I watched the girls at the pool and then shot them out to Brian at the bikes.  He rode with Abbey and I ran with Amber.  Kinda hard to catch those photos with all the excitement!  Here’s Abbey before her 300 meter swim…..

During the swim…..

Amber about to start her 100 meter swim…..

Amber getting started on her bike….

Needless to say, it was once again amazing to be able to watch the girls achieve their goals.  Amber swam 100 meters, biked 3 miles, and then ran a mile with me!

Abbey swam 300 meters, and then was supposed to bike 10 miles….but by accident, did the course twice.  Ooops!  We think she biked 15 to 20 miles.  It didn’t matter though, because once she received her finisher’s medal, she was all smiles!

Great job to all three of my Girlies….daddy and I are so proud of the strong and healthy young women you are becoming! 

We love you!  

1000 Ummmm Er....500 Miles In 2011

I finally have started running again.   I stopped for awhile. I stopped for four months.

Now I will officially be on the wrong side of the depressing statistic, “that only 8% of New Year’s resolutions will be completed.”  Boo.

I am not really surprised at myself.  I go through various phases of being in shape ….and not so in shape.  It’s no secret that I am hopelessly addicted to unfinished projects.  I even blogged about it once.

Back in June, I decided enough was enough, and I went out for a short 2 miles.  My fat cells screamed the whole time, but I did it…….and that “runner’s high” gave me the tiniest pat on the back when I was finished.

Gradually, I worked up to three miles, then four, until last week I finally did a 6 miler.  It really doesn’t sound like much, but considering the I-never-want-to-run-again-for-the-rest-of-my-life mindset I had adopted in February, it is pretty good progress.

In an attempt not to burnout again, I am setting some new goals for myself.  First off, I am slowing it down a bit. 

Instead of getting mad at myself when I don’t go faster and longer, I am simply putting one foot in front of the other until I get to the finish.

Secondly, I am resting more.

(This says, “Stop for traffic.”, in Japanese)

At the beginning of the year I took on too much too fast.  My knees hurt, my shins hurt, and my hip was begging me to stop.  I have finally figured out that listening to my body isn’t following the voice in my head that says, “Ummmm, it’s sort of hot outside this morning, do you really want to go on a run?”  (That’s laziness talking.)  It is more like being able to FEEL your body telling you it has to heal and letting it take the time to do the healing.

Finally, my third goal is to set new goals…..and I am aiming high.

My new goal is 500 miles in 2011.  I love this quote….. “Who aims at excellence will be above mediocrity; who aims at mediocrity will be far short of it.”  In other words, I would rather make a goal and not quite reach it than, never make a goal and not accomplish anything.

What goal are you going to set today?

*The pictures in this post were taken on my usual running route on our Air Force base in Japan.  Can you tell I love my new smart phone and photo editing apps?

1000 Miles in 2011 - Day 38...I Think

It’s funny how the mind wanders when one exercises.  A half an hour of running and suddenly, you’ve sorted through the most of the world’s problems.  Well, at least the problems in your own world.

Today, I started out a little stiff from that Chuck Norris roundhouse kick I tried a few weeks back, and my chest was burning from the crisp, cold air blowing around me.  But after about three or four minutes, Hannah Montana (of all people), had me running a nice easy pace…….and my world started to make sense.

Here is what went through my mind today in four miles….

1.     Is she a Crip or a Blood?  My perfect honor roll student got called to the counselor’s office this past week with her friends because they all decided to wear purple on Thursday. They were informed that this is considered a form of gang activity and bullying and it would not be tolerated.  She came home hysterical because she thought she would get into trouble and it ruined her fun Friday.  I had to calmly explain that it would have been fun to have a purple day and that I knew she wasn’t being bad, but that we had to follow the school rules because some people could possibly take it too far.  Then, I piled my three girls in the van and we all went down to get matching tattoos like the Japanese mafia.

2.     Carbs.  I thought about carbs while running.

      I started the Atkins diet plan eight days ago.  I can’t have any carbohydrates other than what you get from green vegetables for six more days…..and even then I can only add nuts, berries, and cottage cheese. It says on the Atkins website that my carb cravings would lessen over the first few days, but I bet Dr. Atkins doesn’t have a box of Thin Mints on top of his fridge, a can of Pringles in the pantry, and a Tombstone pizza in the freezer.

3.     I thought about God and I prayed.  This often happens when I run and I am not sure why.  Maybe it is because there are moments on my run that I don’t have to think about anything except putting one foot in front of the other.  I am breathing fresh air and the sun is on my face and I just feel close to Him.  It is these moments that I have held my hands up thanking Him for my blessings and I have also cried out to Him to answer my prayers….and I know He is there. It sounds crazy typing that out here, but it is my own little moment with Him, and I love it.

4.     I hate bodily fluids.  Usually I get mad somewhere along my run because I pee my pants a little bit.  Hey, I have had three babies so give me some slack.  Today, I stayed dry but my nose was running faster than I was.  It was gross and of course I didn’t have a tissue.  Some people do that “snot rocket” thing but I KNOW I would just snot all over the front of myself.  I had to use my sleeve.

5.     Finally I had about a half of a mile to go and Van Halen came on my iPod and started singing, “I Can’t Stop Loving You”, and my thoughts went straight to my husband….who will be home in 21 days……and I miss him.

  Dumb love songs.  Where is Megadeath’s “Appetite For Destruction” when I need it?

So that’s it.  That’s what went through my brain mixed in with, “oh geez is this ever gonna end?” and a few more carbohydrate hallucinations.  I am now back on track.  My daughter is not in a gang, I can have 3 strawberries in 6 days, Jesus loves me, my coat can be washed, and my husband called just a few minutes after I got home.  Nine hundred and fifty some miles to go!

1000 Miles in 2011 - Day 16

The first 10 days or so of this running challenge, I actually thought that I may have shot too low on my mileage goal.  Like maybe I should have went for 2011 miles in 2011 or something like that.

Then the past week hit me and guess how many miles I ran?

Five.  I ran five whopping miles.  A little shy of my 20 mile per week goal, dontcha think?

I had meetings, three kids, and a husband who likes to see the vacuum lines in the carpet when he comes home from work, and then there are the crows.

Crows?

Yeah crows.

Big, black, dirty crows.  They have glossy eyes that watch you as you run past them, while they pick away at dead bunny carcasses.  They look intently into your eyeballs.

YES……INTO your EYEBALLS!!!!

And then, they make that loud, scratchy, spine tingling, crow sound.  “CAWWWWWW!  CRAAAAAAAAW!”  And in that moment, you KNOW that they want to peck out your eyeballs, or get their nasty claw feet all tangled in your hair.

If you do not know what I mean, you need to go rent the movie, The Birds by Alfred Hitchcock.  My parents never let me watch it when I was younger, but one day we were snowed in and my husband and I happened to run across it on TNT.

I am forever scarred……and now too afraid to run, outside with those crows.

Seriously though, sixteen days into my New Year’s resolution of running 1000 miles in 2011, and I am already coming up with some pretty good excuses.  So this week I am going to work on getting caught up.  Enough of my silly excuses!  Excuses are the nails that are used to build a house of failure right? 

I am not a motivational speaker, but I play one on TV.  What excuses do you have that are keeping you from reaching your goals?  Make a commitment, accept no excuses, and you will see results.   I am pretty sure that crows won’t pluck out your eyeballs in the process but just in case, I am going to sprint from my car to the gym so the crows can’t get me.  Maybe you should too.

I am tying this post into Mama Kat’s Writers Workshop for this week. I obviously chose the prompt, “Scarred.”  Try one of her prompts……it’s fun!

1000 Miles in 2011 - Day 4

I busted out a whole whopping mile this morning on a run. 

It wasn’t pretty.  I was underdressed and thanks to giving birth to three 8+ pounders….I peed myself the entire time.  So, I decided to turn around and walk home with pee chaffing and freezing on my thighs.

Too much information?

Running isn’t always pretty, but just when you think you might stop….something happens.  Maybe you win a pretty medal for being a finisher or reach a new PR.  Maybe you get some much needed quiet time away from kids.  Maybe you meet a new friend or you get an old friend to run with you.  Maybe you think it’s going to be a bad day and are having a pathetic run and you look up and see this…..

Mt. Fugi…Jan 4^th, 2011 running the flight line on Yokota Air Force Base, Japan

What happens when you go running?