Taking on a Challenge or Two

It’s no secret that I’ve been in a bit of a running funk following kicking balls at the Big D Marathon. The miles I’ve logged since Big D have been few and far between. But no longer! I am embarking on two challenges to help jumpstart my motivation:

Challenge #1: Runner’s World Summer Running Streak 2012. (Thanks to Heidi of Life in Pink for posting about it.) The rules are simple: run every single day from Memorial Day to 4th of July. 38 days of running. (38 also happens to be Stephen’s old Lacrosse number; it must be a sign!) You don’t have to run a lot each day just so long as you at least run some.

This challenge is so right for me because it involves running (yeay) but consistency over length. (With the Texas heat, that is what I need!) I already started by running 3 miles on Memorial Day. Yesterday I ran 1 mile before work. (I never, ever run before work.) I felt really energized afterwards and managed to get ready for work faster than I normally do. (Score!) 1 mile is the perfect amount to get motivated because it only takes 10ish minutes, and then you are done. I can commit to that!

The stats from my Memorial Day run. Kicking the Summer Streak off right!

Challenge #2: Tone it Up Challenge hosted by Teal & Beth of Life is a Run! The challenge is to do push-ups (however many you can) and hold a plank (for however long you can) every day for the month of June. I think a non-running challenge may be just what the doctor ordered. Plus, I have what are known as t-rex arms. (As in, my arms are completely useless when it comes to lifting anything heavier than a really full bowl of pasta.) I’m not expecting hulk-like strength at the end of this, but I know that doing anything (even if it’s only 3 push-ups a day) is better than nothing. My goals are pretty low. I don’t care how many push-ups I do, as long as I do some every day. Plus, I get to fill out my progress on this beautiful calendar. Me like.

Courtesy of Life is a Run. Seriously, y’all, do this with me. You know you want to!

The Runners World Challenge already started, but there is no reason you can’t jump on board. And I would also highly encourage y’all to consider the Tone it up Challenge, too! And that one doesn’t start until Friday. (Think of how good your guns will be looking at the end of June if you participate!) Do it! Do it! Do it! (Positive peer pressure, y’all!)

And I have to give a shout-out to my husband. Stephen recently ran 13.1 miles on the treadmill because he wanted to. It wasn’t a race, there was no medal, he just went for it. And he finished in 1:57:40.

I don’t have any current pictures of Stephen running, so you get this old one. It’s from the Hottest Half 10k in 2010. (It was our first 10k!) Just imagine that he’s wearing Army PT clothes and he’s on a treadmill and that’s he’s probably not wearing sunglasses and he’s not wearing all the gadgets and definitely no bib and that’s probably exactly what it looked like!

I would be annoyed that he beat my half PR if I wasn’t so impressed. Way to go, Honey!*

Adventures in Nail Art

My friend Bianca recently posted an amazeballs picture of her nails on Facebook.

Wowie! I want! Of course, my crafty/arty skills are so lacking that I’d never be able to do this myself. I expressed my desire for equally awesome nails and Bianca pointed me in the direction of youtube. I watched this tutorial and then decided that I had to at least attempt to make this happen for me. (When I told Stephen, his response was, “Isn’t that sort of thing for crafty people?” Ha! He knows me well!)

Supplies:

• cup of water
• toothpick (I didn’t have one so I used a kabob stick!)
• nail polish
• tape

Step 1: Watch multiple youtube videos on water marble nails.

Step 2: Prep your supplies. I put the water in the cup, got out the kabob stick, and put tape all around my finger. (You tape up your finger to prevent polish from getting on your skin.

My taped up finger.

Step 3: Drop alternating colors of polish into your cup. The idea is to make a bullseye pattern.

Step 4: Use your toothpick (or kabob stick) to herd the nail polish and make designs. My kills are very limited in this department. I would just make random swirls.

Step 5: Dip your finger into the water. It helps to directly put your nail onto the part of the design you want and then submerge it.

Step 6: Use your toothpick to scoop up all the excess polish floating on the water. (This is so none of it latches on your nail and foils your design.)

Voila! Sort of.

I ended up with one really cool nail, a bunch of really bad nails, and a few mediocre nails. I ended up taking the polish off of the blob nails and just having plain polish on those fingers.

It took some trial and error, but I’ve kind of got it down now. I figured out that not all polish works equally. It helps if the polish doesn’t dry super fast. Fans and air conditioning can also cause the polish to dry in your cup before you get the chance to dip your finger. It doesn’t hurt to put a base coat on your nail first.

This will potentially be my new addiction this summer. Don’t be surprised if you see many more crazy nail pictures popping up.

Anybody else tried their hand at water marble nails???*

Wear Blue Run for the Fallen

Happy Memorial Day, friends! I hope that you don’t have to work today, that you get to spend time relaxing with the ones that you love, that you get to eat delicious summer foods, that you get to hit up some great sales. I also hope that you take a few minutes to remember what Memorial Day is really all about.

I wanted to participate in a race today, but I couldn’t find one to suit my fancy. Instead, I discovered Wear Blue Runs for the Fallen. (Shout out to Cynthia! I wouldn’t have known about this had I not seen the post she wrote on her blog.) The goal of the race is to have people, wherever they are in the world, pledge the miles that they are running (or walking) on Memorial Day. The website says, “It is not about pledging money, it is about pledging miles so that together we can create a living memorial.” How could I pass that up. I couldn’t! I pledged 3 miles.

I woke up early-ish this morning to beat the heat. I donned my blue Army Wife running top, suited up Geronimo, and hit the pavement.

During my run, I saw:

• 3 American flags
• 12 other runners, walkers, cyclists in the neighborhood
• 1 woman gardening
• 30 kids (approximately) at track practice
• 2 dogs on walks with their owners
• 3 little girls selling donuts on their front lawn

I couldn’t help but think, “This is America, and aren’t we lucky!” My eternal thanks to those who have served our country.*

Frisco Farmers Market

Last weekend I enjoyed brunch with my friend Wendi. While we were chatting about our men, her new car, my job, etc, she mentioned that Frisco (a town just a hop, skip, and a jump from where I live) has a weekly farmers market. I have never been to one, so I made a mental note to visit it. And that’s what I did yesterday!

The market was small, so I made a lap around when I first got there to check out all my options. My first purchase was a cupcake.

This big ol’ bad boy was only two bucks and delicious. (It was wedding cake with butter cream frosting.) Sadly, I left it in my car while I ran other errands because I wanted to save it for later. When later rolled around, the cupcake was melt city. Luckily it still tasted wonderful!

My next purchase was some local honey.

According to the vendor, they include all the local pollens, so the honey helps with your allergies. Interesting. Apparently it’s particularly good for kids under 12, but I don’t have any of those. I poured some of the honey on my peanut butter toast this morning. Yum!

Other purchases included peaches (so juicy!) and red potatoes (that I have yet to do anything with). It felt really nice to support local vendors. Plus, everything cost me less than $20 total. That’s a good deal in my book.

I spent the rest of my Saturday being incredibly tired. I don’t know why, but I was in major zombie mode. I fell asleep on the couch around 7. Geronimo woke me up a few hours later to take him out, and then I relocated to the bed and slept some more. Hey, it’s the weekend. It’s meant for catching up on sleep, right?

Do you believe what that guy said about the local honey helping your allergies? What should I do with those red potatoes I purchased? All I can think of is roast ‘em.*

Putting my Boys to the Test

I’m currently reading the book Soldier Dogs – The Untold Story of America’s Canine Heroes by Maria Goodavage. It’s pretty good, although it is mostly a hodge podge of information. (I will say it has two things I really like: short chapter and pictures!) I was reading it in class the other day when I came across a paragraph that says, “They [dogs] study us. They observe us. They smell changes in our very chemistry. They learn to predict us. They know us in ways our human partners sometimes do not.”

The book is specifically talking about dogs and soldiers who have been deployed together. While neither Geronimo nor I have been deployed, I do pretty much consider him my battle buddy. We’ve spent 15 months together without Stephen (basic + deployment will do that to ya.) and we know each other very well. G-mo knows when I’m brushing my teeth in the morning that I’m fixing to leave for work. (He always lays down on the couch and waits for me to pat his head before I leave.) When I say “Bed time” he trots into bed. If my Garmin beeps, Geronimo comes running over looking for his leash. The kid knows me! But does he know me better than my husband does? I had to put it to the test to find out.

I devised an Amy quiz which Stephen and Geronimo took separately. The questions were:

1. When is Amy’s birthday? (October 25th)
2. What is Amy’s favorite color? (Purple)
3. What is Amy’s favorite food? (Answers may vary)

I can tell you that Stephen got three out of three correct. (He said his French toast is my favorite food. Now I really wish he was here to make it; that French toast is the shizz!) Way to go, Honey! You know me well!

Next up, Geronimo’s turn. I was surprised to discover that he knew my birthday.

Why didn’t you buy me a birthday present last year then, G-mo??? He wasn’t able to figure out what my favorite colors is. (His guess was orange – blarg.) Maybe it’s because he’s color blind? Maybe that’s not a fair question.

As for my favorite food, I don’t even know what his guess was. When I’d ask Geronimo, “What mama’s favorite food?” he’d just pant. Probably because I said the word food. The verdict is: Stephen wins with a score of 3 to 1!

Stephen may be down range, but he still knows what’s up. I guess that comes with being together for eternity since junior year of high school. But I will say that Geronimo has been an incredible support  during this nasty, nasty deployment. He lets me complain about everything and he never judges me, he licks my face when I cry (hey, sometimes I just need to feel pitiful), he’s a good cuddle partner, he helps me stay active, and he’s just so darn cute. I really don’t think I could have survived deployment without him. Thanks, Geems. I owe ya one.

Do you think your pet knows you better than your partner does? Who else is impressed that Geronimo knew my birthday?*

Three Things Thursday: The Birds Edition

For the past few years, I’ve read the Daphne du Maurier story “The Birds” with my students. It has very rich language (nerd alert!), and the story is high-interest. When there is time, we also watch the Hitchcock movie. That’s what we are doing this week. Over the course of the movie, students have asked me questions that just made me laugh. Here are three gems:

1. “Is this movie from the 80′s?”

I was but a wee babe during most of the 80′s, but I’m pretty sure we didn’t dress like this.

From the way dialogue, to how the clothes the actors wear, to the lame (in my students’ eyes) special effects, it’s obvious that the movie is old. And old can only mean one thing: must be from the 80′s.

2. “Are teachers allowed to smoke? “

Melanie Daniels smoking like a chimney right outside the school-house.

There’s a ton of smoking in this movie. It makes sense in the context of the time that the movie was made. (And it ties in to the key smoking scene in the story.) One of the characters is a school teacher, and she smokes a lot. I guess that didn’t sit right with my students.

3. “Why don’t they just…?” A tale as old as time, song as old as rhyme, my friends! Scary movies from long ago and from now have this in common. Characters make obviously poor choices with the right course of action glaringly apparent to the rest of us. In this case, what they should do is even more “duh” since we read the story. We know the characters are majorly screwed long before they realize it.

Any other fans of The Birds fans out there? What other Hitchcock films are must-sees? Rear Window is my favorite!*

To Tuck or Un-Tuck

I was at a race not too long ago when another runner asked for my opinion. She was trying on a tech-tee (not my fave, but to each their own) prior to the race. She just pulled it on over the running clothes she was already wearing. “Hmm.” She was deliberating. “Does it look okay?”

I didn’t know the woman, but I don’t mind saying what I think. “It looks a little big,” I told her as I messed with my Garmin. “You could probably go down a size unless you plan to tuck it in.”

“Tuck it in??? While I’m running?!” Apparently that was the wrong thing to say. Is it uncool to tuck in your running clothes? News to me! Although, it’s not like I’m the last word in running apparel. I wear a SPIelt wristband, a SpiBelt fanny pack looking thing, a visor on occasion, and tops that are tucked in.

I’m no fashion maven. Exhibit A. Note: the SPIbelt is outside the poncho. And yes, I tucked in my shirt before the race started.

Part of the reason I tuck in my top is that I am really annoyed by any kind of movement on me while I run. (It even took me a while to get used to carrying my own water because I don’t like the sloshing.) I also don’t want to worry about my clothes shifting around. If I tuck in my shirt, then I know it’ll stay put. Untucked, that shirt might need constant adjusting.

When I’m working out, I don’t really care about how I look. Sure, I like cute tops and bright colors and fun outfits, but who cares if my hair is messed up? What does it matter if I’m looking dorky? Can this be the one time that it’s okay to take a pass on fashion? I don’t go to races to look cute. I go to run.

Do you tuck or untuck? Do you get all dolled up to work out?*