Feelin' Groovy

Thanks for all the kind comments on my current donut fixation! They are delish, eh???

I am having a glorious week! I feel good and even got in a fab yoga workout with my peeps at the YMCA! It was good to see everyone and get back in the swing.

I ran 1.5 miles right after that class and felt pretty darn wonderful!!! I haven't had a chance to get in any more running this week between my doctor visits and helping my husband get ready for his SPINAL FUSION this coming Tuesday. That's right, surgery for a man who hasn't missed a day of work in about 14 years. And that was one day where he was deathly ill. Still only missed one day, the maniac.

He'll be home with me for 6 weeks. He will be going ape shit within week #2, I just know it. I'm starting the "honey-do" list tonight. All joking aside, he's very healthy and he's soooo ready to have his surgery behind him. I'll just be here to keep him comfy and happy.

Gotta run...kids are coming!!!!!

Still On Break

I haven't been able to run since Easter.
I just ate 3 donuts.
That's all I have for today.

Wii Fever

Wii got the kids a Wii for Christmas and let mii just say...Wii is F-U-N! The six of us spent a good hour and a half making our mii(s) Christmas afternoon. They're little replicas of ourselves and it's so funny to see them all lined up on the tv. We had just as much fun making them as we did playing.

Robby (my 9 year old son) was boxing and I looked over at him at one point and saw him going bananas....lol...I had to tell him to back away from the tv before he threw the remote through the screen! He had sweat pouring down his face....LOL. Maybe we have a Marvelous Marvin Hagler in our midst.

I also kicked kid-butt in bowling, which is funny since I don't like to bowl in real-life. We're going to try out some more games this weekend. Should be fun. Kerri (my 22 yr old) and Kirstin (my 20 yr old) (who is having a BABY in July!!!) played tennis. I gotta try that. I love watching them all play together. Makes my heart just feel so peaceful. I love my family.

They should make a runner game where you run a race on a treadmill. You can play against people through WiFi on these other games, why not a runner game?? How fun would THAT be???? Talk about cross training!

RUNNING

I saw the doctor last Wednesday. I have a few tests next week and I'll get a better idea of what's going on. Doc told me to run on the grass in case I fall again (HA). He knows not to tell me to stop running. That would be like telling him he can't scuba dive! Not that I'd try to tell him he can/can't do ANYTHING! Wouldn't that be a type of insubordination?? I'm glad I went to see him. He'll get things straightened out.

I am meeting Chris at the gym for a run at 9am this morning. We'll see how that goes. It's been a week since I ran. I have rested, kinda. Didn't run at least. Except for my mall marathon! Came in under 4 hours! I almost BQ'd!!!!!

They Call Me...."Grace"

And that's because I don't have any. Grace, that is. All my life I've tripped over nothing, fallen off sidewalks, and flown through the air without an airplane. I've been on crutches, limped so many miles and have had so many bruises from banging into things that my husband is worried people will think I'm in an abusive relationship.

One time I took Bobby's bike for a ride. I forgot my feet were locked into those cagey things and slammed on the brakes as I hopped off said bike. Only to realize the bike was attached to my body and not ready to let go. Kim and bike went flying through the air, landing on a picnic table and sending cookies, chips and drinks helter skelter. My father-in-law turned to my husband and said "Kim should not be around things where there's a chance she could get hurt". And then he yelled at me for spraining my hand. That's his way of letting me know I am loved. This all happened 12 years ago in front of our entire families.

Since then, I've had multiple injuries and this was all before I ever thought about running. My step-father used to call me Grace. I've been taking yoga classes twice a week for a year now and I was just thinking about how awesomely balanced I've become. I hardly ever fall these days.

Alas...I spoke too soon. Wednesday I was walking and whacked my foot on who-knows-what. I never felt anything, but I felt something wet and sticky on my sandal. I looked down and saw blood pouring out of my baby toe! Once I washed it off I could see the top of my toe was not attached too well. I bandaged it and it actually doesn't even hurt. I can wear my sneakers just fine. It looks bruised and black now, but no pain when I run.

Friday at the gym, I had a class and grabbed two 10 lb weights in one hand, hot chocolate in the other. (I know, you're wondering what the heck I was doing drinking a hot chocolate before an exercise class. I like hot chocolate, that's why) Anyway...as I stepped off the stage I hit a treadmill with my left foot and was flying through the air. This is not too remarkable in my daily life goings on, but the 20 lbs of dumb bells and a piping hot chocolate seemed like it could pose a new problem. Especially since I had a killer grip on the hot chocolate. Which was in a styrofoam cup.

In the split second before I hit the ground, I let go of both the weights and hot chocolate, hoping to stop my head from crashing into the wall, which is made of brick. The weights are all metal and made a TERRIFIC clang when they hit the wall doing 90 MPH. Hot chocolate spewed everywhere but on ME (small miracle). All I could think of was I'd hit my head, be knocked unconscious and pee myself in front of 50 people. All people I know, of course.

When I did come to a complete stop, I was unsure if I really did hit my head or not. I've been hurt at times when I didn't realize it for a few minutes till the pain became unbearable. Was this one o'those times?? No. I was ok. I have rug burns on my knees and my whole body is aching, but I did not get a concussion or pee myself. My body is wicked sore today but I lived!

As if that were not enough, I was on a long run with Chris this morning and as I was running along on my merry way, I once again had the feeling of being airborne. It's a familiar feeling. I looked down and saw concrete. I pictured my already scraped and bruised knees and thought it would be horribly painful to land on those again so soon. So I propelled myself (yeah, I'm a pro at falling) toward the left, which was grass, and twisted enough to land on my right side. This sent me into a semi-roll/tumble, but my knees were SAFE! My pride was NOT. Chris didn't see me fall, but came up on me while I was laying in the wet, just cut grass trying not to cry. Nothing was hurting any worse than it was when I started the run, but I was just D-O-N-E at that moment. My pride is more bruised than anything. I got up and ran the rest of my 5.5 miles and then decided I wanted to go home. My knee was achy anyway.

I have a Christmas party tonight. I was planning on wearing a sexy dress but I think I need to cover my legs with a dark pair of tights. I'm so sore all over.

I'll take some pics of my new injuries later. You'll just L-O-V-E these.

Shaving My 5K...Yes or No

No.

ARRRRGGGGHHHHHHH!!!

But I saw Sherry so it was worth running in the unbelievably cold, windy weather. OMG, it was C-O-L-D! 42 degrees and sooooo windy. The first mile went ok, I had to pull back a few times when my Garmin read 7:40 (!!!) I wanted to hold an 8:30 pace for 3 miles then fly for .1 but the wind was crazy. I hit mile 1 at 8:30, I was happy with that and hoping to maintain but the wind kicked in right after that. I felt like I was running place.

My feet were freezing, my hands were aching and my face was numb. By 1.5 miles my knee was whispering sweet nothings in my ear. And it wasn't saying "I love you". It was saying..."Get the heck off me". I didn't listen. Why should I???? I've been laying low for 2 months now. TWO MONTHS. I've missed 6 races!!! This was the last race of the year for me to shave my 5K time. I had hopes. I had dreams. I had.....a sore knee. And wind. And cold.

I'll admit I was feeling a little bummed now and then. I knew I wasn't going to see a miracle. But ya know what??? I was running my first race in 2 months and I really was grateful for that.

OH-OH-OH!!!! My friend Ed just called me!!! He helped with the race results etc and just called to give me my stats.....28:29 and 1st place in my age division! I am very pleasantly surprised!! You may be wondering why I didn't know this.....I had a 9 mile training run with Chris this morning and couldn't hang around for the results. I was bummed about that because I really love to see my runner friends get their results/medals but I had that prior commitment to run.

But once I got to the gym, my knee was pretty sore. I had a hot chocolate to defrost my insides and contemplated the 9 mile run. Chris came in all bouncy and positive and I didn't want to rain on that awesome attitude so I made the attempt to run. I got about 200 yards and KNEW it wasn't gonna happen, baby. I planted the cooler with the Gatorade and Gu packs at the post and yelled up to Chris. He came back and I told him my knee made other plans. My knee was being a Princess and didn't wanna run. Chris was so fired up he kinda said no problem and trotted off. I felt a wave of envy mixed with pride for him. He will do so well in the marathon! I drove past him on my way home and yelled out some cool "coach-type" words of encouragement. I'll catch up with him later to get the scoop!

EDIT!!!!!!!!!

No shaving my 5K! Sorry for the confusion. My PR is 27:25, I did 28:29 today. The part that surprised me was placing 1st for my age division!!!!

Today is my beloved husband's birthday. He's a lot older than me at 46 years old. I'm only 42, still a chick. He's beautiful inside and out. I'm so very thankful he was born. He's the best husband and father I know. I love him more than I can say. We're going to dinner tonight, I'm looking forward to spending quality time together. Especially later...teehee.....

Here's Mr Birthday Man.....

Love, Love, Love this man.

I Am A Swimmer....

Kinda. I had my first lesson last Saturday!!! It was a "balmy" 51 degrees out and I was hesitant, but I did it! The water was 85 degrees, so it felt fine. Bob, our Aquatics Director and my friend, met me in the pool for my first lesson. Bob was a swim/dive star in high school and college, so I was in good hands. Plus he promised CPR if I was drowning. I had THAT to look forward to. And don't think for one minute I didn't think of faking it to see if he'd really save me.

Bob took a few minutes to explain to me that the idea of swimming is to stay above the water and not sink. Got it. He also explained I had to breathe. Got that too. Then he told me to keep my legs straight while I kicked to move through the water. Ok! Bob told me to reach with cupped hands, like I was pulling the water TO ME. Yes, I promised to do it all.

I didn't sink. I also didn't keep my legs straight or breathe. BREATHE???? No. Not I. I can breath OUT, but I can't be moving around in the water and find the time to INHALE! Then I would drown. Other than those minUUUUte infractions, Bob said i did well. He's sweet, huh?

Then came diving. We stood side by side on the edge of the pool. Arms up, bent forward, head between elbows. My stomach was a wreck. I felt a little dizzy too. Bob said to just let myself fall forward gently. I did it! I was so happy! I hopped back out, determined to actually dive confidently. Took me just a few seconds to go with a little jump. I did it again!! I did a few of those and then I tried a dive further out and it was easy! I L-O-V-E diving!!! I felt so powerful to be diving. I felt so awesome. I swear, I walked around all day smiling. I'm looking forward to practicing swimming. And especially diving. Bob's going to show me a few cool dives, I cannot wait!!!

RUNNING UPDATE:

I met Chris for our long run Saturday morning. It was a 7 miler and I was unsure if I could make it that far (crazy knees) but I figured I'd be there for Chris anyway. Found out a very important thing about my new friend Chris. He doesn't like to talk or BE talked TO for the first coupla miles. Well. Anyone who knows me, knows I don't usually go too long without talking. This is not good. This is a major conflict folks!!! I really tried not to talk to him, but I kept forgetting!! Then I told him I don't need any answers or even for him to be a part of the dialogue. I can talk to myself just fine. Turns out it makes him tired to hear me talk. Pfffft. Nice. I will start wearing my iPod and he can tap me when he's ready for some conversation I guess. It's ok. My feelings are not hurt. Anymore.

All kidding aside, I enjoy running with Chris. He's doing GREAT and showing some serious endurance. By the end of the 7 miles, he was yelling "7 miles ain't NUTHIN!!!" Like Rocky Balboa's coach. Heehee! Hey Chris...."It ain't NUTHIN" man".....LOL (just wait for mile 20.....hahahaha....)

So my knees got tender at mile 5. We did plenty of walk breaks and kept the pace slow so I did actually finish the 7 miles. I probably walked a half mile straight by mile 6, then did a slow run the last mile. Other than sore knees, I felt fine. no soreness anywhere else. I am afraid to say I'm on the mend, but my fingers are crossed for the Winter Waddle 5k Saturday.

I met up with my friend Bill, Mr Space Coast Marathon Man, at our Zoomers running group's Christmas party last Wed. I got all the details!! He had a great time, the weather was perfect! Beardsley had to cancel because he had KNEE SURGERY. Scary, huh???? Bill was wearing his marathon shirt. Very cool shirt. I SOOOO loved talking with him, getting all the details. We'll be running together at sarasota in Feb!!! YAY BILLL!!!!!!!!

Gotta go read my Boggy friend's blogs, I've been absent far too long. Lets see what Sherry and Glaven are up to.......