You Want Personal??

My sister mentioned yesterday that my posts are getting more personal, which is true. But this blog is about me, and these "issues" are me. They have been with me for as long as I can remember and without them, I think my life might actually be a little boring. While I have my day to day struggles, I can honestly say that I love my life. Issues, craziness, and all! I have a great family, wonderful friends, a job I love and a husband who is more than I could ever want in a partner and a best friend (oh, and 2 amazing kitties!). And really, as I watch Jerry Springer right now, I'm clearly not the only one with issues...how comforting.

But getting back to personal...how's this? The infamous, insanely painful, pinkie toe blister. The picture does not do it justice, but you get the idea! This is for you Mich!! xoxo

Pep Talks

I have a lot of pep talks with myself lately and play little games to get me through some of my runs. Here's how this morning went:

Woke up at 5:15am and said out loud, "Man, I do not feel like running AT ALL today." I think I even threw in a big sigh, looking for Andy to tell me to come back to bed. Which didn't happen. Probably because he knows by now that I won't. As I walked out the door to the gym, I thought, "maybe I'll just do the elliptical and not run." I kept telling myself that this would be ok because I haven't taken a day off from running in so long, that one day wouldn't kill me. But then as I entered the gym and headed to the treadmill, not the elliptical, I decided, "3 miles on the treadmill and 3 miles on the elliptical." So I start running, wondering if I can really wear sandals to work with my unpainted toenails in this horrific state (I'm currently losing 3 nails and have some champion blisters) and before I knew it, I was at mile 3. At this point, I told myself, "just do 5 miles and make up the extra mile on Saturday." But at 4.5 miles I said, "what the heck, there's only 1.5 more to go at this point...sprint it out!!" When I hit 6, I felt great and thought, "that was easy!" I'm so glad I can have these little chats with myself.

And in case you're wondering, I did wear sandals to work...I'm proud of my battle scars!

Have the Guts??

I've been toying with the idea of getting my personal training certification for some time now (years, actually). The one thing holding me back...the good old self esteem. I just don't see myself as fit, etc and can't for a second believe that anyone would be motivated by me or how I look. It's just another situation where my lousy view of myself holds me back. Never mind that I have the knowledge of fitness and nutrition, it all comes down to what I look like (sooo frustrating!). Anyway, over the past few months I have gotten more serious about the certification and have even taken some steps towards setting the wheels in motion. But whenever I get just close enough, I seem to chicken out. Then today something small happened that made me think that maybe I should do this. Last week I was talking with another runner about my upcoming 20 mile run. My director was close by and joined the conversation asking what I was training for, etc. Well, today she came by my desk and told me that I motivated her with my running and she printed off a running plan for beginners. I was so flattered! Someone is motivated by ME?? I need to push myself, I know I have the guts to do this...

TIPSY from Orianna Street!

Well, Michigan lost...what a pisser. Chimay is gone...what a pisser. Lost Abbey Lost & Found sucked...what a pisser. BUT...Bud Light Lime on the other hand...Delicious!!!

Cooking fat free turkey dogs on the grill right now.

Good Friends...Good Times.

Hmmm...Tattoo night???

LIVE from Orianna Street!

Watching Michigan, drinking Chimay. Just got a Viv Pickle wristlet (http://www.vivpickle.com/). Does it get any better than this??

Katie, Ryan, Barry, Andy and I are relaxing watching MI play Illinois...game could be going a little better at this point (ILL - 17, MI - 14), but Katie took "the necklace" off so we should be ok. Too bad Caroline isn't around...

I'm feeling pretty good considering my run this morning...it's nice to be out with friends.

SHOUT OUT: I forgot to mention that Ryan (aka Frat Boy) has been quite the host. He not only opened a bag of Doritos, but he turned the oven on and made pizza bagels and jalapeno poppers. He is such a good hostess!

Back to Back

I just got home from my second 20 mile run. Compared to last weekend's 20 mile, today was a better run. This was surprising considering the week I had and how I just wasn't enjoying my runs. The weather was a little chilly today, but at least we didn't have the humidity. It makes such a huge difference. I also switched things up and ate the Power Bar Gels instead of the beans. While I'm not convinced any of these things do a thing, I think I like the gel because of the caffeine they have in them...and it was like eating icing out of the container!

Oh, and one more thing...since the news is finally out and I no longer have to worry about Andy spilling the beans...I want to say Congrats to Mike and Dana!! They are expecting their first child in April and we're so excited for them. I can't believe Mike is going to be a Dad! We foresee a lot of Euchre nights in our future at the Wood Tavern...the most happening place in Collegeville.

GO BLUE!

Lessons Learned through Running

I would just like to preface that this posting was very hard to publish. But for this week's Take it and Run Thursday (http://blog.runnerslounge.com/2008/10/take-it-and-run.html), here's what I've learned through running.

Being consumed with my weight for as long as I can remember, I've learned is that it's not the number on the scale that should matter…it's what I'm accomplishing each day that's important. My weight does not define me. There is so much more to me and I'm missing out on too much by allowing this to consume my life. While it was difficult to write that, it's even more of a struggle each day to believe it. But as I was running through New Hampshire a few weeks ago for Reach the Beach, I actually said to myself, "Look what you are doing! Look what you're capable of! Stop beating yourself up over your weight and letting that define who are. For once, be proud of yourself and what you've accomplished." While I'm not all the way there, I'm happy to say that I'm making progress. Even if they are just baby steps.

(And for my sister, who is a loyal reader of my blog…No, I do not want a cupcake. But thanks for offering).