That time I did crack

Ok, so I never did crack, but anyone that knows me knows that I had a major Mt. Dew addiction. Like hardcore, no joke. I have been running in 5k's for a year and a half now, and  since I have expanded my goals and  am currently training to run a marathon, I knew it was time to give up my "crack" for good. I am happy to say, it had been two weeks and three days Mt. Dew free for me. This is pretty big for me, usually by now I am walking around like a crack addict going through withdrawals. But this time I am doing pretty well. I do wake up with a headache every morning, but I am hopeful that will go away soon. If not, at least I am the only one up in the morning so no one sees me all crazy and what not.

I did have one incident where I did sniff an empty Mt. Dew bottle that Brian had. I was rinsing out the recyclables and there was the empty bottle and I totally sniffed it just to smell the soda. Then I laughed at myself because it was totally ridiculous. I didn't try to squeeze a few drops out so I am pretty proud of that.

Since I have stopped drinking the Mt. Dew I have noticed an improvement in my running. I used to get a side pain something fierce after about 5 minutes. Now I am getting to about 2 miles before I get a side pain and even then it's not nearly as bad. I can still run through it.  I think that finally getting to first shift has also been great for kicking my crack habit. I get enough sleep now which eliminates a lot of the dependency I had on soda just to stay awake.

I think this may be the last time that I have to try to kick my addiction. I've tried many times before and have always failed, but I think this time will be different.

On another note, this weekend I ran in another 5k This was a local run and it was rather small. I ran with Ashley, we both set goals for finishing and happy to say, we both finished in our goal time! Ashley killed her goal! I made my goal, but didn't crush it. But, I'm ok with that. I am improving all the time and that's the important thing. Ashley and I have both decided that we prefer doing runs that are a bit bigger. I feel like I stand out too much in the small runs. Despite all the flashy colors that I wear, I don't like people to look at me when I run.

Here we are, are you sick of our post race pics yet? Hope not because we aren't nearly finished yet. We already have plans to do a 5k on the 4th of July, and we are registered for a mud run in August, so more pics are coming!

How do I know?

   How do I know I am a runner? Let me tell you, I know that I am a runner because I recently realized that I have earbuds stashed all over the place. Like seriously, I have a pair in my truck, a pair in my purse, a pair in my running bag, a pair in the little holder on my treadmill, a pair in my nightstand, and a little container with some more in. I always like to have them handy because I don't buy very expensive ones so they tend to break sometimes.

Reason number two that I know I am a runner, I have little piles of pins in various places. The pins come off my race bibs and I always say that I am going to bring my own pins along to my races since I have so many of them. But I never do. If I run enough races I will eventually have enough to donate back to a run and supply a good number or people with race bib pins.

Reason number three, I made a holder to hang the medals on that I have earned for running and I hung that holder in my dining room. Why should I be the only one that sees them? I've worked hard for them. I don't display a lot of things, my diploma is in a box somewhere, but those medals, they needed to be put where everyone could see them.

There it is, isn't it pretty? This is an out of date picture, I've added a medal to the collection since then.

Reason number 4, every time I know I am going out running I get a feeling of calm. Running is my time for just me. It's my chance to relax and let all the stress go.

Reason number 5 that I know I am a runner, I have signed up to do this ridiculous run (The Dopey Challenge) that my bestie and I officially started training for yesterday, and man am I excited! Only a runner would say they are excited about training to run 48.6 miles!

I'm not saying that I'm a fast runner, or even that I'm great at it, but I really have fallen in love with it and I see this relationship lasting a long time.

Salute our troops

Memorial Day meant a three day weekend for me, so of course Ashley and I decided to sign up for a 5k. She was very excited to get back to running after having the baby and found us this 5k to do on Sunday morning. So while most people were still sound asleep at 5:30 in the am, we got up and drove to Fond Du Lac to get our run on. We had a goal of finishing in under 45 minutes, and let me tell you, there was no way Ashley was letting any of us slack on that. It was me, her, her son Ayden who I am a big fan of, and her tiny man Xander in the jogging stroller. Ayden ended up ditching us the last portion and finished ahead, that boy did not whine once at all, he is a great kid! And Xander, apparently he finds running as relaxing as his mom and I do because he fell asleep for the whole thing. We all finished in under 45 minutes which makes this a personal record for me with a 5k. Yeah, I know, I'm slow. Oh well, I'm working on it and I'm always doing better than those that don't try at all or those that don't leave the couch.

With each run that we complete, I am always thinking about the next one. In fact, on the way home from the Salute our Troops 5k Ashley mentioned that she was going to start looking for  a run to do in June since we had nothing on the books yet. So this coming weekend we are again signed up for a 5k that's pretty local to us and I am pretty excited. My first ever running event was in Kiel I did a 2miler so it's pretty exciting to go back to where I started and do a 5k.

 Here is us post race

No, this is not meant to be a butt shot, I bought us awesome wonder woman socks and if you look you can see that they even have capes attached on them that flap when you run....ZOOM

WHAT HAVE I DONE????

I'm sitting in my bed watching Scrubs on Netflix and eating my supper thinking about the events of my day. I went to work where I worked hard (like worked up a sweat and smelled a bit funky) and then I came home. It wasn't raining so Ashley and I headed out for a run/walk. As it turns out, I should eat a bit more throughout the day if I plan on running right after work. We ended up doing just short of 3 miles in 50 minutes so I still feel like I got a decent workout. We also got to have a good chat while we moved.

Anyway, during our chat we were talking about the Dopey Challenge that we are registered for. Recently I realized that we are just 6 months out from this event. 231 days out to be exact. (Not that I have been watching the countdown clock or anything) It seems so far away, but then I realized that it's just 6 months. 6 months fly by like nothing!!! We have a training plan in place so as long as I stick to it I am confident that we shall do fine.  But it is seriously hitting me that we are going to do this. We are going to get on a plane, and fly to Florida where we shall run a 5k the first day, a 10k the next day, a half marathon the day after that, and a full marathon on the 4th day.

Yes, I said a FULL MARATHON!!!! That's 26.2 freaking miles!!! That's like me deciding to run to work instead of driving to work. WHAT HAVE I GOTTEN US INTO????? Yes, it is all my fault. I saw this picture on my facebook newsfeed of a guy who had just done this challenge and he was wearing the medals that he had earned, and I pretty much instantly knew that I must do this. I sent the picture to Ashley, and since she is just as nuts as I am she text back within a few minutes that she was totally in. From that moment we knew that we must do this. So we anxiously waited until registration opened and 17 minutes after registration opened, we were registered for the Dopey Challenge!!!

I'm glad that we registered right away because within a few hours the challenge sold out....but now I sit here and realize how close and how fast this thing is going to sneak up on us, and I am freaking out. I must just keep telling myself to stick to the plan and it will be fine. Ask me again how fine it is after Ashley and I are done running 26.2 miles....26.2 miles after doing 13.1 miles the day before...again, WHAT HAVE I DONE???

Lately...

Lately I've been very buy. The weather is getting nicer and nicer and I love it! I've been getting outside and getting more active. It's a lot easier for me when it's nice outside. Have a quick photo dump of my adventures....

My good friend Nara asked me to do a 5k with her. It was her first one, (I think she is totally hooked now). Even though it was cold and rainy we still had a great time and it was nice to catch up with her again.

 Parker helped me pick out these Yoda earbuds, the force was with me. There is a tiny green man in my ears!!

This is us after we finished.. YAY MEDALS!!! They don't just hand those things out, you have to earn them.

Parker is a very busy little man right now. This is from his first baseball game. He hit a ball and was so excited about it! I'm so proud of him for getting active and involved. It's a lot of time for me with practices and games and everything, but it's so worth it.

Here's a pic from Parker's soccer game last weekend. He is number 14 in the green shirt.

We went to Fleet Farm last Saturday and on our way home we had an encounter with this guy. We passed him and I was so worried that he was going to get run over so Brian turned around so I could get him off the road. (Maybe I have a soft spot because I have a tortoise, but whatever the reason, I did not want this guy to get run over.) When I nudged him to see if he was alive I was shocked because he whipped around and tried to bite me! Whoa buddy, I am trying to help you!!! I was going to try and pick him up from the back but then I noticed that he also had long claws that looked like they would easily gash me. So Brian got out of the truck and  we were looking for  a stick that we could use to make him move. We couldn't find a strong enough stick, but Brian grabbed my snow scraper (Guess it's a good thing I still had it in there after this never ending winter). He was trying to just prod him a bit and make him walk towards the side, but  thing just kept trying to attack him! Meanwhile, people are driving past occasionally and I can only imagine what they were thinking. The turtle just kept spinning in circles so eventually Brian had to kind of roll him to the side of the road. In the end he got him moved off the road, and I am hoping he went down the ditch and into the pond and not back onto the road. I don't know how fast snapping turtles grow, but I would guess this guy was pretty old.

Parker and I got our bikes out on Sunday. We walked them to the track nearby our house so Parker would be more comfortable riding and I could go on my own and still see him as I was going around. Then we rode our bikes back home. All in all we went about 5miles. I am pretty proud of him and his little legs. 5 miles of walking and biking is a lot for those little legs and a one speed bike.

Monday I started 1st shift!!! I am really happy to be on a "normal" schedule. Something I haven't had in 5 years. I get to sleep at night. Although I am having trouble with this, I am so used to not sleeping more than a few hours at a time, so when I am trying to sleep I wake up a lot. I am getting up at 5:30 a.m. which is an adventure because I have never been a morning person. They are kicking my ASS on first shift!! Like no joke! I have lost 3 pounds this week and I am fairly certain that it is all sweat. I have lifted hundred, seriously hundreds, of 40 pound blocks this week among all the other things that I have lifted. My muscles are all sore and jello like. I have had no problem falling asleep (the first time). But, I feel good. I am working hard and time goes fast because there is no time to look at the clock. It's also really nice to walk out  of work and go about my night knowing that I can do the things I need to do and still get a good night of sleep.

I must be enjoying first shift because I volunteered to work tomorrow. (Saturday) Although it's not a production day, we are just checking product and opening product. Another plus to first, I can work a Saturday and still have a decent weekend. Since Brian has to work Saturday morning and Parker is with his Dad, I figured I would work.

I'm looking forward to more good weather this weekend and enjoying Mother's Day...

My first bike ride & my thoughts on selfies

              Yesterday I took my first bike ride. Well, not my first ever, but my first actual ride on my new road bike. I had taken it on a test ride where I discovered my brakes did not work, but that didn't count as a ride. I had originally set out with a goal of riding 10 miles. Three weeks of this stupid cough and I am still feeling like crap, so I should have known this was very ambitious.
              Riding a road bike is a lot different than riding a mountain bike. It is taking some getting used to. There is something thrilling and terrifying at the same time when you are zipping down a hill on this skinny skinny tire leaning way forward to the point that you feel you may just tumble off the front of your bike. At about 3 miles I started coughing really badly and I couldn't take a deep breath so I decided that it wouldn't be a good idea to push myself to 5 miles before I turned around. So I turned around at 3 miles and headed home. After my ride I was trying to think of a route that would be fairly flat, but as it turns out my town is super hilly everywhere! You don't notice this so much when you are driving up them, it's that whole using your own power to get up them that makes you realize that even small hills are a big deal. One of my main goals was to ride all the hills. It would be so easy to just get off the bike and walk up them, but that's not the point of my training. I am proud to say that I biked them all! Not super fast, but I did it and that makes me pretty proud of myself.
            It was only my first training ride so I wasn't expecting miracles, but I have realized I have a long way to go yet. Based on my average pace yesterday my century would take me at least 11 hours. I think I am shooting for a goal of about 6 hours for my century time, but I'm not totally stuck on time, I want to finish. I have a friend that keeps up a pace of at least 16mph, someday I will be as awesome as she is hopefully!
             I learned a few things on my ride yesterday:
1. Biking is relaxing even when you are terrified of crashing, hey that's what helmets are for.
2. I need to make a playlist for my rides, mushy love songs do not do much to push you on a ride.
3. Ow! I have not invested in a new saddle yet, but I will be ordering one tonight. Standard seats are not made for lady parts.
4. My helmet gives me a headache. As someone prone to migraines caused by like everything, this doesn't surprise me so I am hoping that I will get used to it. Until then I will just stay prepared. As my Dr. says, there is no point in suffering through it when you can stop it. I'm not all about taking medications and don't do it if I can avoid it, but I have learned that trying to suffer through a migraine just makes me dumb. Plus my medication is non addictive so that makes me feel better.
5. I realized that I have never in my life owned a bike helmet before. Kind of says something about my mother....nuff said about that.
6. 100 miles is a long distance. Like no joke, a long distance...but I have come up with a training plan that will prepare me so I don't feel overwhelmed.
7. I'm fat. I already knew this, but riding a road bike all leaned over confirmed it. My knees were all up in my gut and it made me laugh. But, I'm working on that so maybe someday I can ride without gut punching myself.

       Overall my ride was pretty good. Today I feel pretty good. My legs feel great! I thought they would be all like sore and junk, but they feel great! Other parts, not so great but I will survive. My arms feel like they got a pretty good workout too, I am glad that I have been doing strength training with them. I have read that cyclists often forget about them, but that's a big mistake. Who wants tired weak arms on a 100 mile ride?

Here it is, my post ride selfie....along with my thoughts on selfies. Selfies have become the new "thing". In general, the term annoys me. I mean really, basically every photo is a selfie simply because thanks to technology we no longer need someone else to take a picture for us. I think this is a good thing because you don't have to worry about someone running off with your camera or phone. Selfies are now the biggest spreader of head lice, and that gives me the creeps... While it does annoy me when people feel it necessary to take a photo of themselves in every single outfit they wear, I don't think I have a problem with selfies. A lot of mine are of me after I have done something I am proud of, yay good selfie! Or of things I do with my bestie, yay good selfie! Or me and my son, Yay super good selfie! So I say go for it! If you feel super cute in your outfit, selfie, if you have done something awesome, selfie, I guess if people have an issue then just keep scrolling. My bestie is almost 38 weeks pregnant and I look forward to her selfies!
   My first of many training rides is in the books, I've told you some of my thoughts on selfies, there you have it.

Until next time,
Love ya!

The Beard

  Every winter my husband grows a beard. It doesn't really bug me because he keeps it pretty well under control. It doesn't really get all that long and if it does he will usually trim it. Also, he usually shaves it at the end of January for my work winter party. He doesn't make me shovel snow like ever, so I don't complain. If that's the tradeoff, then I guess it's not so bad. But this winter...this winter has been different. This winter I have some issues with that beard.
    First of all, he started growing his beard the day we got married. It's like we are Amish, he literally hasn't shaved since the day we got married. I guess considering that was October, it's no that awful. Except we are going on like 6 months of that beard!!! It was so freaking cold out this winter (like no joke, 50 below temps with the wind chill. And for many days, not just a day or two), that he didn't even shave for the winter party this year. Here we are, officially into spring, and he still has not shaved. So I didn't get my mid winter clean shave, and he still hasn't shaved the thing off. We had a discussion about it recently it went like this:

me: when are you going to shave your beard off?
Brian: It's still cold out.
me:  But it's spring now, it's been like 6 months.
Brian: It snowed out today, that gives me another week.
me: The snow didn't even stick, you can shave.
Brian: You aren't mad at the beard you are mad at the weather.
me: Of course I'm mad at the weather, shave your beard.

I lost, the beard is still there because it's still cold out and supposed to be below freezing again this weekend. So I am trying to decide how to wage war against the beard, but I doubt that I will win. The beard has the force of Brian behind it and he is bigger than me.

I did get a good laugh today though. Went to the carwash. Took the dog along....good times...good times. Also yesterday, there was a patch of sunshine in the afternoon so I decided to get out my new road bike for a test run. For some reason I decided to start out going downhill...and about 5 seconds later I discovered that my brakes didn't work. Luckily I don't live in a busy neighborhood though so I survived. I made it back home and Brian made some adjustments so that my brakes work and it's all good now.

That's pretty much all I've got for now. Looking forward to some sunshine so that I can be rid of the beard. But looking at the weather, he is right, it will be at least another week.