August 25, 2013
I hurt. That's all I can say because pretty much every inch of me is in pain. My shoulders, my back, my hips, and everything from my thighs down to my toes. My friend told me that Pain is Weakness leaving the body. I'm going to be really strong soon and while it sounds like a joke... I actually think it's pretty accurate. All of this exercise is probably just putting my body in a state of shock and hopefully within about a month, my body will give in a work with me.
I suppose that equivalent to life in a lot of ways. When we go through difficult situations we end up shocking different parts of ourselves, like our emotions or our stress level, and then when get onto the other side of it, we fall numb and are able to move on and deal with whatever damage we have done to ourselves.
But what about joy? Happiness? Elation? Isn't it also true then? Do we let ourselves get used to everything being perfect? When we stop looking for the next best thing, stop thinking about what we are missing out on and stop living life in envy of what someone else has and just live thankful for every thing that makes us smile... That's when we fall numb to the hiccups that show up in life and can live life in Joy.
If Pain is weakness leaving the body, then Joy is keeping the pain out.
Live life in a state of joy and if something is so bad that you can't, remove it and try again!
Sunday, August 25, 2013
Saturday, August 24, 2013
Niner Niner
August 24, 2013
Well Thursday's 3 mile was alright... not great so getting up at 5am to run 9 today.... I wasn't excited. I'm a bit amazed at myself, but it's still not fun or relaxing or enjoyable but I am doing it. We are doing it.
Erik in tow, we set out to really try to speed walk the whole thing. Even sticking to the walking the first 3 miles were just awful. I guess I need to expect that to be the case as its how long it take for those muscles to wake up and warm up. I fear it will be worse come the morning of December 1 when it is cooler out. I pushed through the pains and cramping of my legs and feet and by the time mile 4 rolled around I felt pretty good. Not as good as the 7 Miler, but pretty decent. I felt the urge to sing some more.... oh those poor people on the path with me. Let's just say my singing is awful in the best of circumstances.... add running and hot sun and shortness of breath.... my head phones were up enough that I couldn't hear myself. I am thankful for that. Sorry to everyone else. Somewhere around mile 5 we through in our first 30-45 seconds of running to switch up the muscles I was using and we did this just a few more times throughout the rest of the path.
About Mile 7 I started getting side craps and the sun was getting to me. Salt from all the sweat was dripping and burning into my eyes and I couldn't wipe it away because every inch of my body was sweating.
By far the last mile was the worst. My pace slipped, my eyes burned, my side craps came back and it was hot.
Ultimately we finished in a 15.66 pace which I felt pretty happy about. It's days like this that I have no clue how in just a few months I am supposed to do todays path x 3?!?!?
Almost forgot but today a HUGE goal was reached! I finally wore Erik out! He was passed out in the car by 10:00 and he came home, took a shower and a nice long nap... so did I!
Well Thursday's 3 mile was alright... not great so getting up at 5am to run 9 today.... I wasn't excited. I'm a bit amazed at myself, but it's still not fun or relaxing or enjoyable but I am doing it. We are doing it.
Erik in tow, we set out to really try to speed walk the whole thing. Even sticking to the walking the first 3 miles were just awful. I guess I need to expect that to be the case as its how long it take for those muscles to wake up and warm up. I fear it will be worse come the morning of December 1 when it is cooler out. I pushed through the pains and cramping of my legs and feet and by the time mile 4 rolled around I felt pretty good. Not as good as the 7 Miler, but pretty decent. I felt the urge to sing some more.... oh those poor people on the path with me. Let's just say my singing is awful in the best of circumstances.... add running and hot sun and shortness of breath.... my head phones were up enough that I couldn't hear myself. I am thankful for that. Sorry to everyone else. Somewhere around mile 5 we through in our first 30-45 seconds of running to switch up the muscles I was using and we did this just a few more times throughout the rest of the path.
About Mile 7 I started getting side craps and the sun was getting to me. Salt from all the sweat was dripping and burning into my eyes and I couldn't wipe it away because every inch of my body was sweating.
By far the last mile was the worst. My pace slipped, my eyes burned, my side craps came back and it was hot.
Ultimately we finished in a 15.66 pace which I felt pretty happy about. It's days like this that I have no clue how in just a few months I am supposed to do todays path x 3?!?!?
Almost forgot but today a HUGE goal was reached! I finally wore Erik out! He was passed out in the car by 10:00 and he came home, took a shower and a nice long nap... so did I!
Back to the Short Runs
August 21, 2013
So Crea Crea that 4 miles is what I now refer to as a Short Run. I was supposed to run 3 miles yesterday but we went to the movies and it was just too dark to go afterwards. I was easily talked out of going.
Today I didn't want to go either. Let's face it, I NEVER want to go. I HATE running. I really honestly and truly do. It's no fun. Again the first few miles were Hell and I wanted to quit so many times. My mind went fishing for excuses to give up but with Erik by my side I just couldn't do it.
So Crea Crea that 4 miles is what I now refer to as a Short Run. I was supposed to run 3 miles yesterday but we went to the movies and it was just too dark to go afterwards. I was easily talked out of going.
Today I didn't want to go either. Let's face it, I NEVER want to go. I HATE running. I really honestly and truly do. It's no fun. Again the first few miles were Hell and I wanted to quit so many times. My mind went fishing for excuses to give up but with Erik by my side I just couldn't do it.
Seven is Heaven
August 14, 2013
What were you doing at 6:00 am? I was pulling into the parking lot at Cady Way to conquer my longest training to date. My favorite little guy by my side, we stretched and waited for our friends to join us... it pushed us back a little but we got out there and rocked it!
So a rough break down of the morning:
This was my first run in my new running shoes. They were pretty great! The first few miles were rough, I guess trying to convince my legs that exercise is better than sleeping on a tempurpedic mattress. I do not think I convinced my legs or my mind of that. By mile 4 I started feeling great! Really great! Erik and I were singing (when I really felt I should have been grasping for air). We even took a couple opportunities to have one of our signature Dance Parties. We stayed hydrated and I tried GU for the first time. When we got to the end and turned around and made it back to our car... we still weren't at 7 miles so we stopped for a quick potty break and we kept going past our car in the opposite direction of the Cady Way Trail. When I thought we had gone far enough that we would be at 7 miles when we got to the car.... but it didn't work out right. So we kept walking in circles around the parking lot until we reached 7 miles. I was ready to fall over. Erik wanted to run some more and then go play on the playground equipment.... Kids.
We went home and Erik watched cartoons while I took a nap. Afterwards we headed out to Track Shack and bought Erik his own pair of custom shoes and some other running goodies then after a quick dinner at Boston Market we met some friends for a night dip in the hot tub and swimming pool. So necessary after that mileage on my feet.
What were you doing at 6:00 am? I was pulling into the parking lot at Cady Way to conquer my longest training to date. My favorite little guy by my side, we stretched and waited for our friends to join us... it pushed us back a little but we got out there and rocked it!
This was my first run in my new running shoes. They were pretty great! The first few miles were rough, I guess trying to convince my legs that exercise is better than sleeping on a tempurpedic mattress. I do not think I convinced my legs or my mind of that. By mile 4 I started feeling great! Really great! Erik and I were singing (when I really felt I should have been grasping for air). We even took a couple opportunities to have one of our signature Dance Parties. We stayed hydrated and I tried GU for the first time. When we got to the end and turned around and made it back to our car... we still weren't at 7 miles so we stopped for a quick potty break and we kept going past our car in the opposite direction of the Cady Way Trail. When I thought we had gone far enough that we would be at 7 miles when we got to the car.... but it didn't work out right. So we kept walking in circles around the parking lot until we reached 7 miles. I was ready to fall over. Erik wanted to run some more and then go play on the playground equipment.... Kids.
We went home and Erik watched cartoons while I took a nap. Afterwards we headed out to Track Shack and bought Erik his own pair of custom shoes and some other running goodies then after a quick dinner at Boston Market we met some friends for a night dip in the hot tub and swimming pool. So necessary after that mileage on my feet.
Sunday, August 18, 2013
First Real Long Run
August 10, 2013
With any marathon training program, it's no secret that you need to have one day a week with what is called a "long run". If you relate that to other aspects in life, the long run would be like study for your mid terms in colleges.... or dealing with month end if you work in finance or accounting. It's that long dreadful experience that comes more frequently that you wish it did and you are so glad when it's over. The necessity of this ritual it two fold; it measures where you are and strengthens you to prepare you for where you are headed.
So today I got up for my first real planned "Long Run". I met my friend Amanda who has convinced me that speed walking is the way to go to avoid getting too tired and reduce the chances of injury. We headed to Baldwin park. Immediately my monitor started blinking "low battery" whoops. We got a late start and the sun was blaring hot with no breeze. The path wasn't very treed for most of it so the heat was rough. I wanted to get 8 or so miles in but at the 5.35 mark and knowing to keep going at our pace would mean another 45 minutes in that sun just felt unbearable! So after 1 hour, 24 minutes, we stopped.
We averaged 15:70 pace which if I could sustain for the entire 26 miles, would be acceptable. I finished with a protein shake and a video blog entry.... and a trip out to Ormond Beach later in the afternoon for some relaxation.
On the way home from Ormond Beach, Erik had my GPS. I told him to let me know when we were at 26 miles from home. Once we got to that point I started explaining to him that it would take from that point all the way until we get home to equal a marathon. We talked about how much longer and harder it is to run/walk that to sit in a car and ride. We talked about how to encourage people when things are hard and we continued to talk about why I am running this marathon and how I want to show him that even mommies have to work hard and get past difficult things but that in the end with a lot of practice, I will finish what I started. We talked about how he can apply this to math, soccer, basketball, jobs, school, and anything he wants to do in life! Then I marked the 2.5 mile mark so he could see how long he ran last week with his dad. One of the greatest things about parenting is teaching your child the important lessons that help build him into a successful and contributing member of society.
With any marathon training program, it's no secret that you need to have one day a week with what is called a "long run". If you relate that to other aspects in life, the long run would be like study for your mid terms in colleges.... or dealing with month end if you work in finance or accounting. It's that long dreadful experience that comes more frequently that you wish it did and you are so glad when it's over. The necessity of this ritual it two fold; it measures where you are and strengthens you to prepare you for where you are headed.
So today I got up for my first real planned "Long Run". I met my friend Amanda who has convinced me that speed walking is the way to go to avoid getting too tired and reduce the chances of injury. We headed to Baldwin park. Immediately my monitor started blinking "low battery" whoops. We got a late start and the sun was blaring hot with no breeze. The path wasn't very treed for most of it so the heat was rough. I wanted to get 8 or so miles in but at the 5.35 mark and knowing to keep going at our pace would mean another 45 minutes in that sun just felt unbearable! So after 1 hour, 24 minutes, we stopped.
We averaged 15:70 pace which if I could sustain for the entire 26 miles, would be acceptable. I finished with a protein shake and a video blog entry.... and a trip out to Ormond Beach later in the afternoon for some relaxation.
On the way home from Ormond Beach, Erik had my GPS. I told him to let me know when we were at 26 miles from home. Once we got to that point I started explaining to him that it would take from that point all the way until we get home to equal a marathon. We talked about how much longer and harder it is to run/walk that to sit in a car and ride. We talked about how to encourage people when things are hard and we continued to talk about why I am running this marathon and how I want to show him that even mommies have to work hard and get past difficult things but that in the end with a lot of practice, I will finish what I started. We talked about how he can apply this to math, soccer, basketball, jobs, school, and anything he wants to do in life! Then I marked the 2.5 mile mark so he could see how long he ran last week with his dad. One of the greatest things about parenting is teaching your child the important lessons that help build him into a successful and contributing member of society.
Back in Action
August 7, 2013
It's been a while since I have blogged about anything but it's time to get started again.
We are here in Orlando where things left off almost a year ago. Motherhood has come with great triumphs and great challenges. I'm sure all mothers would agree. Some days I never want my little boy to grow up and I want to keep him all to myself as my baby boy. But that can't happen and wouldn't be healthy if I tried. Instead I choose to work to make sure my son grows into a contributing member of society who sets, and goes after his goals. I believe every experience is an opportunity to learn and learn from and it is my job as his mom to make sure he understands that. Some people believe kids should only have fun and they will just turn out fine and that might be fine for their families, but in our family we want to give our son every advantage in life and not leave he successes up to chance. That means that when we see him thrive in something, we encourage him in it. When we see him struggle we teach him through it. When we watch him give up, we don't let him and when he experiences something new, we teach him about the item, action, or location. This is how we parent?
The best way to teach a person, is by action. Erik struggles with Math. It's expected that he is still learning English, so reading and speaking is still difficult, but he is very far behind in math skills. Math homework during the school year resulted in a lot of tears and frustration for both child and parent. So it has been immensely important that we continue to work with him over the summer to help bridge the gap. Any break in the practice has proved to reverse his understanding of math which just proves to be increasingly more frustrating. We keep telling Erik he needs to keep practicing his reading and his math so that he can get to point when he will just "get it"and it will become easier and when he takes a test with confidence and gets an A on that test, he will see the results of his hard work and dedication.
While I work to teach him this lesson, I decided I needed to follow my own advice. I have had the goal of achieving a marathon for many many years. I have such respect for anyone who can complete one, that I want to fall into that category of people I respect. This year I planned to attempt a half marathon in the first of a 5 year Big Bang series of marathons at the Space Coast. I put off signing up thinking I had plenty of time, but suddenly the half sold out and the full was about to. I had to make a decision: Give up and plan for something else or go for the gusto.... I'm not really good at hearing I can't do something, so I decided I am up for the challenge!
Something you should know about me... I'm not a runner. The most I have completed is a 5K which is 3.2 miles.... A full marathon is 26.2 miles. This kind of a jump is only for the clinically insane. I must complete it in 7 hours (in my defense I did look for a time limit and did not find it until I had already signed up and paid for the non refundable, non transferrable race). Also, I hate running. I mean I despise it. I don't get that runners high and I don't enjoy it and it doesn't give me time to think or relax.
This just made my connect to Erik and his math all the closer. We both hate our task, have a huge obstacle to overcome, aren't naturally good at it, and don't get any enjoyment out of it. BINGO.
What's was unexpected was to find that Erik IS good at running. He enjoys going with me. He puts on his MP3 and I put on mine and off we go. He pushes me and sometimes I push him. It works pretty good and I don't know how I will complete the marathon without my little running partner.
As for now, I begin training as a novice runner, running in an experts race. I try to go out a few times a week with different friends who are available and up for the challenge. Follow us as we put our life into action and train for the many marathons of life!
I wrote this when I started to blog but lost the password so had to start again:
July 23, 2013
Trying this out from my phone so we will see how this goes but tonite I intended to register for the oh so scary half marathon in December. However the half was sold out with very few full marathon spots left. What did I do? I registered for the full! I am scared and excited all at once and the next couple weeks are going to be a huge eye opener. Training is going to have to become a huge priority. Right now I am over weight having recently gained a bit of weight back after a weight loss followed but the adoption of our first child.
Help keep me accountable and join me on my journey!
- Dream Big Jenn
It's been a while since I have blogged about anything but it's time to get started again.
We are here in Orlando where things left off almost a year ago. Motherhood has come with great triumphs and great challenges. I'm sure all mothers would agree. Some days I never want my little boy to grow up and I want to keep him all to myself as my baby boy. But that can't happen and wouldn't be healthy if I tried. Instead I choose to work to make sure my son grows into a contributing member of society who sets, and goes after his goals. I believe every experience is an opportunity to learn and learn from and it is my job as his mom to make sure he understands that. Some people believe kids should only have fun and they will just turn out fine and that might be fine for their families, but in our family we want to give our son every advantage in life and not leave he successes up to chance. That means that when we see him thrive in something, we encourage him in it. When we see him struggle we teach him through it. When we watch him give up, we don't let him and when he experiences something new, we teach him about the item, action, or location. This is how we parent?
The best way to teach a person, is by action. Erik struggles with Math. It's expected that he is still learning English, so reading and speaking is still difficult, but he is very far behind in math skills. Math homework during the school year resulted in a lot of tears and frustration for both child and parent. So it has been immensely important that we continue to work with him over the summer to help bridge the gap. Any break in the practice has proved to reverse his understanding of math which just proves to be increasingly more frustrating. We keep telling Erik he needs to keep practicing his reading and his math so that he can get to point when he will just "get it"and it will become easier and when he takes a test with confidence and gets an A on that test, he will see the results of his hard work and dedication.
While I work to teach him this lesson, I decided I needed to follow my own advice. I have had the goal of achieving a marathon for many many years. I have such respect for anyone who can complete one, that I want to fall into that category of people I respect. This year I planned to attempt a half marathon in the first of a 5 year Big Bang series of marathons at the Space Coast. I put off signing up thinking I had plenty of time, but suddenly the half sold out and the full was about to. I had to make a decision: Give up and plan for something else or go for the gusto.... I'm not really good at hearing I can't do something, so I decided I am up for the challenge!
Something you should know about me... I'm not a runner. The most I have completed is a 5K which is 3.2 miles.... A full marathon is 26.2 miles. This kind of a jump is only for the clinically insane. I must complete it in 7 hours (in my defense I did look for a time limit and did not find it until I had already signed up and paid for the non refundable, non transferrable race). Also, I hate running. I mean I despise it. I don't get that runners high and I don't enjoy it and it doesn't give me time to think or relax.
This just made my connect to Erik and his math all the closer. We both hate our task, have a huge obstacle to overcome, aren't naturally good at it, and don't get any enjoyment out of it. BINGO.
What's was unexpected was to find that Erik IS good at running. He enjoys going with me. He puts on his MP3 and I put on mine and off we go. He pushes me and sometimes I push him. It works pretty good and I don't know how I will complete the marathon without my little running partner.
As for now, I begin training as a novice runner, running in an experts race. I try to go out a few times a week with different friends who are available and up for the challenge. Follow us as we put our life into action and train for the many marathons of life!
I wrote this when I started to blog but lost the password so had to start again:
July 23, 2013
Trying this out from my phone so we will see how this goes but tonite I intended to register for the oh so scary half marathon in December. However the half was sold out with very few full marathon spots left. What did I do? I registered for the full! I am scared and excited all at once and the next couple weeks are going to be a huge eye opener. Training is going to have to become a huge priority. Right now I am over weight having recently gained a bit of weight back after a weight loss followed but the adoption of our first child.
Help keep me accountable and join me on my journey!
- Dream Big Jenn
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