Why do you run?

This has been a question that I've been asked several times. And I've always fumbled to give a straight answer. As, I don't know exactly why I want to run. It's hard, it's hot, I get sore etc... So why do I run?

I realized Friday * immediately after I hit an all time PR!* as the intoxicating mixture of endorphins, and adrenaline rushed through my vains.... THIS is why I run! I run, to reach this level of "high". I literally chase after this rush. It doesn't happen with every run. You get done with a run and you either feel like, Oh, that was a good run, or dang, that sucks.... But every once in a while, whether in a race or not, you'll hit a goal (sometimes unexpectedly) and will have the wave of thrill all over again.


So there it is..  I like the high. For someone who isn't a runner, may not understand what this is. If you just work out to get your cardio in for the day, then you probably don't experience this much. That is why I have had a hard time explaining WHY i run!


There are other perks of course!

The networking. If you are a runner, new or old, you know that the running community is SO supportive, and friendly! I love meeting new runners, which a lot of times turn in to clients/friends, on a regular basis.

The health benefits. I had a baby. I had a goal to run the Tulsa Run. What I didn't have was the extra baby weight. I don't usually talk a ton about my weight or the size I am, but I will say that this will always be my plan post baby. I don't think there is anything else out there like it, for me. I'm no longer trying to shed weight ( actually have to add calories/protein in to my diet now) But I know that it does work! I don't know anything about diets and counting carbs and such. But I do know how to get those endorphins flowing, heart pumping!


The attire? This is something I didn't give much thought to until I started running with some of my friends (some who are in the "public eye") that you don't have to be a SLOB while working out or running. I've learned about running skirts, and cute (be-dazzled) running shirts and shoes. They are priced just the same as other running attire. I've learned that it's ok to dress cute while running! I figure, if you're spending a large amount of time in your running clothes, you might as well like the way they look. I've also learned at races, you take lots of pics! LOL. But I love buying new clothes and gear to run in, just like I buy other clothes.

Goals. Training is all about goals. I've always been a leisure jogger. But I've never really trained for anything until now. It's all about having certain goals, and reaching them on a weekly basis. If you make a check list of all the things you need to do around the house or work, and got them all completed each week, how would you feel?

Get those medals!

 I'm not a competitive person by nature, so I only really feel the need to beat my own best. I'm content with that. My husband on the other hand, different story! Lots of competition!  I'm not too big in to how fast I am compared to others. There will always be someone who runs at the same pace as you, and that's all I care about! lol!

Cheap therapy. I've learned that a 40 minute chatty jog with a girlfriend to blow off some steam does wonders!!!! and it's free. Or a 5 mile run with my favorite man in the world, to just talk about things, makes us feel a different, and deeper connection. Or a fast run by myself, lets me "run out some aggression"

A good cause. Every race supports something. Your money is donated to something. Race for the cure-breast cancer awareness, Memory walk-Alzheimer disease, Hunger run-keeping food in the bellies of babies, Bricktown Blaze-help to support amputees. Some runs may benefit the trails and parks of Tulsa, some may be for suicide prevention/education.... But you're running (or walking) for a cause!

So these are just a few reasons I love the sport. I understand it's not for everyone.  I know that not everyone is supportive of the sport. They think it's dangerous, or hard on your body and so on.... but if they understood a little of why a runner runs, maybe they would change their view of it. ( besides, I think that NO exercise is and can be harder on your body than any kind of exercise out there) We gotta take care of our bodies, our heart, our emotions, and our mind.... You just have to find what works for you!  So run, walk swim, bike your heart out.. Get your blood pumping, prove to yourself that you can check off some goals, that you and your loved ones are worth being healthy for! Because you are.

Finger, and wall, and face, and counter paint.

Yesterday Anisten and I had the day off together. We devoted it to staying home, cleaning, and baking. During breakfast, I noticed that she was using her nutella to paint all over her high chair tray. I figured since we were going to wal-mart and had devoted the day to staying in, we might as well try some painting! I just bought the Crayola Finger Paints which claim to be completely washable, and non toxic. Perfect.

We really enjoyed playing with them. I was trying to teach her to use her brush on the paper, but she thinks that the brush (being the very smart girl she is!) is a make up brush! So, needless to say, she really liked putting it on her body, and her face... We had a great time anyways. She really liked it. It was something new and entertaining! I dipped her in the tub let her play for a few minutes, and she was clean in no time. The paint came off my center island and myself very easy.

While all that shanannigans was going on, we had some yummies going on in the oven! -- I had a few bananas that were close to being too brown. This very rarely happens, I usually can't keep them in stock with my little monkey!
So.... I looked up the recipe for banana bread, and an hour later, we were pulling it out of the oven!

It turned out way better than I anticipated! I hadn't ever made it before. But it was so easy that we'll definitely make this a regular around here!!
Anisten had 2 pieces yesterday!

Now she's just being silly!!!

So, that was our super domesticated day yesterday!  ( not to mention the shrimp fajita's and black bean & corn succotash I made! ) And some recent pictures of this cute baby!

Until NEXT TIME..................

8 miles

Mile 1 - I think I can, I think I can..... I just want to stop. It's still hard to breath. I'm sleepy.
Mile 2- There is still time to turn around.
Mile 3- My endorphins are kicking in, my strides are getting longer.
Mile 4- I could go another 4
Mile 5- Are we approaching an hour?
Mile 6- Pop a sports bean for some energy.
Mile 7- Only a mile left.
Mile 8- Did I really just do that?


This is about my thought process on Saturday as I embarked on my 8 mile run for the very first time. I never thought I'd be running 8 miles. But I did it. And actually felt great. I picked up my pace from the last few long runs (since we were on flatter land!) and finished with a little "umph" left in me!
Scott woke up and decided he still was feeling sickly - so I struggled with myself on whether or not to go and meet up with the group to run with out him. It would have been the perfect excuse not to go. But I was looking forward to this one. It was a flat run, in my neck of the woods (Jenks). We've been having to drive down town and run the hills for the past few runs! - So I decided what the heck, I'll be brave and go alone. - which by the way is very un-like me!- It's closer too... No more excuses right? And I'm so glad I did. I feel like it was that much more of an accomplishment!!

A lot of the girls I run with are super runners. They talk about how they felt at mile 10, or mile 20, and that seems so LARGE to me. I can't grasp that just yet. So when I talk about running 8 miles for the first time I feel like it's such a small amount compared to what they are used to running. So for someone that fast, they do look at 8 miles as an easier run, b/c it doesn't take them very long to run it. But I have to remember that they once were running 8 miles at 11 minute miles.

I'm not one to really care an awful lot about my speed. I know as time goes on I'll get faster. And I do set my goals for races. But as far as every day runs, I just want to enjoy them. I don't want it to be hard every time I get out there. Or I wouldn't do it! There has to be a good balance! And maybe I'm just not the competitive type, but I try not to compare my numbers to anyone else. Just set my own personal goals, and meet them.

Why do you run?

Anyways, I just thought this was a big one, and wanted to remember it! I hope that any of you who are running/or training, are keeping some kind of notation of it. It's so amazing to look back to Febuary and March and see my progression!

I have several people asking me for my training schedule and everything. I love that, it means that someone was inspired, just as I was.

BIrthday Shoes/Love

In July, I celebrated my 25th birthday. I feel great about 25. I think it's the last birthday a girl is allowed to have. So I always say, " 25 forever!" 

But all kidding aside I had a wonderful birthday. We went to  IOWA to visit mom and dad the last week of June, and they came back with us.. So I was able to enjoy having everyone here for my birthday! We usually go to the lake but, we didn't this year. We went to the country, and did dinner and a few hours of fire works. Great time!

Yesterday, Jan, My mother in law, gave me a box that had come to her house. It was a belated birthday gift. I opened the box to find in it, the most gorgeous shoes i've ever put my foot in! I saw a picture of these shoes, but seeing them in real life makes them completely diferent! I got several pairs of shoes (my faves!) for my birthday this year. But this was icing on the birthday cake!


I'm so so so thankful to have such a wonderful family all around! 

Girl time!

As a mother of a small child, I'm find myself lucky to get free time, but very lucky to get some GIRL time!

Girl time, is not "alone" time..... it's very much the opposite! Its a non stop chatty time! I have some friends who I run with that have introduced me to some of their running friends! (( VERY ELITE runners I should say!)) And they like to get together every couple of weeks for a few hours of girl time!!

This is a time when  I am allowed to be me. I can be me with pretty fixed hair, heels, make up and a fabulous flower! - - I don't have anyone demanding my attention, or needing something done.

We got together at a friend's house a couple of weeks ago, and I realized home important this is to a women! We are talkers, and socializers by nature.. We don't sit and watch the game together, and occasionally say something in reference to the game... We talk JUST to talk...  Things that are of very little importance to anyone else *especially men* are the hot topics in a room full of girls!

So we dedicated this girls night to Jeanean. It was a early birthday party for her. She just got her ears pierced a couple of months ago, and needed a "stock the ear ring party!" So, we gave it to her. She walked out with many fabulous sets of jewels for her ears!!

This is the birthday girl showing off some gorgeous Jimmy Choo shoes! Look at those legs!! I'm not gonna tell on her or anything, but let me just say her daughters are close to my age! Amazing!

We decided that since Chera had a room full of (very fancy!) shoes that most of us wear, we should try them on!  Even those of us who have never worn heels before, had to dabble in the shoes.

Of course I happened to have a "few" extra flowers laying around in my car. I showed up wearing a flower (as always) and had one for the birthday girl, and by the end of the night everyone needed one! - - To go with their fancy shoes of course!

Chera likes flowers!

We then thought we should take pics of this flower and shoe party. Lots of laughs and flashes later, we called it a night. What a blast!!

Thanks Chera for letting us play in your shoes!

Some times its great to just remember... I'm me.. and while I'm Mommy, Wife, Sister, Daughter..... I'm still me. And that's ok.

couch potato babies

   

I get so many emails about the development of Anisten at each age she is at. So this week, I recieved an email from PAMPERS that has the mile markers and things we should do, or things that might be going on with her at each stage..

This particular article had several things in it that I  could relate to. Things we are dealing with, and some ways to deal with them.

One thing that caught my attention was a link to an article called "Empty Calories" I clicked on it thinking it was probably something related to healthy eating for toddlers or something. I read part of the article, and a few things really hit home with me.

This article talks about the effects of "eating meals while watching TV" 

Watching television during mealtimes is strongly related to obesity in both children and adults. So turn off the TV while you eat, and nip a potential bad habit in the bud. Meals are times for chatter, messy eating, and being part of a family. 

I couldn't agree more. It is part of being a family. It's something that has been taken away from our society all together. It's VERY important. It's their first experience with acceptance. Being part of a great family, and being surrounded by people who love them.

FYI: Not only do children who watch a lot of TV have a higher rate of obesity but they're also at risk for being in poor physical condition and having fewer friends. Now's the time to set things on a different path — no baby couch potatoes! 

Why would we want to increase their, already soaring high, chances of obesity, but also increase the chance that it may effect their social skills?

Now, I don't think there is anything wrong with a kid watching a movie with a healthy/portioned snack. But I think it's important to keep dinner time, family time.

I also think aside from that, it will create healthier eating habits. If we sit down and veg out, we are likely to eat more than we "need" since we are zoned out.

Something I've been trying to work on a little bit, is keeping food in the kitchen. We eat all of our meals at the table ( and in her high chair) and I try to keep snacks and drinks in the kitchen as well. Really so I wont have a huge mess to clean up. But I also don't want her walking around eating. I want her to have the discipline to sit down long enough to eat, and relax.

What are your thoughts on this article? Do you think it's still important to have dinner/family time with out the interuptions of the world? (( NO matter the size of your family, whether it be a single mother, or a family of 10)) Or is this a thing of the past, and it's "just not how things are done" anymore.

Thoughts......

Vacation does a marriage good.

About a week or so ago, my husband and I decided to take a vacay!.... with out our child.

We've done several small vacations, to Louisiana, Branson, Iowa, Kansas.. But we've taken the kiddo with us. We have had so many changes and loops in the past few weeks, that we took advantage of the opportunity to get away for a few days. Alone.  And did we EVER make the best of it!
We decided to do things that we wouldn't normally do, since we usually have the baby.

So. We did.
We had a BLAST! -- On a budget none the less --

We took of Thursday early morning and headed to Branson. We got a great deal with 2 nights stay, show tickets, and a nifty coupon book. We utilized that coupon book like no ones business! There were TONS of great deals in it. Along with great ideas for what to do.

We started out with a great lunch at a cute little cafe. And still had some time before check in, so we decided to stop by the winery for a tour and free tasting. This was a great experience. Just to see how all the wine is made.

We got some souvenir wine glasses from the Stone Hill Winery to take home. Had a lot of fun learning about the different kinds of wine.

We decided that same day that we wanted to go kayaking. We checked in our hotel, changed in to our swim suits and off we went. We got a double kayak and had a few hours out on the lake. It was so quiet and peaceful!

The next day we went for a VERY HILLY run! But again, it was a change of scenery and very peaceful.

We decided to dedicate this day to shopping, and relaxing by the pool...

We hit the outlets... and hit them hard! With our coupons we got tons of stuff for a great price!! With Scott starting a new job, he needed some new clothes. And since there was a nike outlet there, we decided to stock up on that stuff too. Especially winter running stuff. We found some things for the baby as well! We were sucessful at the shoe stores, Gap, Nike, Old Navy, Disney store, Rue 21, Reebok.... But not the coach store...I was a little dis-appointed at the selection. Of course all the things they have are gorgeous, but I didn't see anything I just absolutely LOVED for me. Except a diaper bag. Which I obviously do not need now! So I decided that it was worth it to just move on to another store and wait to get some coach things when there is something I really want!

We never made it to the pool. We literally shopped ALL day! When we got back to the hotel, we had to get ready for our show (and date!) that night. The Shanghai circus was amazing. We had great seats right in the front! But dinner first!!

Very entertaining acrobats... Very un-natural biologically... And our dinner at WASABI was wonderful of course.

Waiting for the show to start.

On our final day of Branson, we wanted to hit the Ripley's believe it or Not museum. That was awesome, I think I could walk through there a million times and see something new and interesting each time!

This was my favorite.

But before we did that... we HAD to go to the DUNKIN DONUTS coffee shop!!! MMMM...
It was pretty much as amazing as I thought it would be. It was big enough to hold 20 people. And packed full, to where we had to wait outside in line. But we had some yummy donuts and fabulous coffee!!

When we got ready to leave, we were truly ready to come home. We had a very fun filled vacation, but we were ready to come home to our princess! She skyped us while we were there. But it sounds like she had a wonderful and spoiled rotten time with grandma. Thanks to my mom who came down for 3 days to stay at the house and watch her!

Of course she missed us too!
She had fun digging through the disney store bag, and trying on her new NIKE gear!!

A few RANDOM (scott )pics...

Scott was very excited about this large gorilla...He says he's never seen it before! HOW DO YOU MISS THIS??

See the excitement?

had to make a pit stop by Michaels. Scott found this beautiful sun visor?--- And wanted me to take an "action" shot... He's looking at martha stewart stickers.. So much for action.

Look how happy a milky way can make this kid.

Anyways, I am grateful that we had the chance to do this! And it was perfect timing.

Catching up with the Campbells

Well, I've been informed that my daughter has been sitting on the washer for way too long. In other words.... I haven't updated enough this summer!

Mindi, you are correct!

Now, that it's 1 million degrees outside, I am forced to stay in and do things like clean, read and blog. Just as if it were winter. ( My best blogging months) Just a fair warning, when spring comes around - Well, you get my drift!

So what's new with us?

EVERYTHING!!


We have made some very significant changes to our life, and lifestyle. These have all been for the better of our future and family.


Scott has gotten a new job. This is such a blessing. There were too many things about his other job (and the people there) that we just needed to move away from. And not to mention it will be a HUGE raise for us. This is great, we are working on becoming debt free and will eventually be adding to our household. So more money is great! He will have a consistent schedule for the first 3 months (training) which is 8-5 Monday through Friday. and after that he will always ALWAYS have Sundays off. And the latest the building is open is 7, so even if he gets stuck with a stinker schedule, it would be like Sunday Monday's off, and he would work Tuesday-Saturday no later than 7. That is a DREAM for us!! Anyone who knows me personally, knows that this is a very very good thing for us!

So, having Sundays off together, were a thing of the past. While I was pregnant, Scott gave up Sundays for better hours, more pay, and a better position.... And ever since then it's been hard to have the genuine family time we have needed. We both agree that we want to raise our daughter in church just as we were. Not a question. We have visited several churches looking for a place big enough to reach out to our needs as a family... Such as a great nursery/childrens church program, womens ministry, mens ministry, and young married groups, and great music ministry. We have to have a place to fit.  We've been looking for something big enough to offer all of these things, but small enough to be involved in helping as well.  We still haven't found just the church yet. We have visited a church in Broken Arrow recently that we are interested in. Each time we've went we have been touched - So we are praying about it, and praying for direction in that area. We more than ever realize how important it is to not only have a family day, but to go to church and learn as a family. I'm very excited about this!!! And so is Scott.

Training. We have up'd our training  tremendously. We have decided to do our first half marathon (13.1 miles). Together. WE are training 3-4 days a week. Our marathon is in November. We have already started looking at other ones that we can travel and make little vacations out of. New Orleans mardi gras marathon is in February so we are considering that one, since I have so many resources for stay, babysitting, etc.. This will all depend on Scott's job  and vacation time/schedule. So in the next few weeks I will start blogging regularly on our training, really more so to be able to look back and see my progress. Right now we are up to 6.1 miles being the most we've run so far. This coming weekend we're doing the Route 66 Quarter marathon, which is to help raise money for the big one in November. Scott will continue is training through the winter months and run the OKC full marathon (26.2) in April!!!! So proud of him! Thanks to everyone who have been so supportive and encouraging to us though this major goal (soon to be accomplishment). So many people can be  critical and negative with the things they say and not even realize they are doing it! I would rather someone say nothing to me, than someone tell me running is bad for me, or I'm crazy for doing something. I am very good at listening to my body. If i'm tired, I sleep, if I'm hungry I eat, if I know that I need to slow down or drink something I do it. It takes a certain amount of discipline and respect for your self to do these things, and I have that. If I become injured (as I am now!) I wait....  So maybe that doesn't make me a true, and hardcore athlete, but I'm not a hurt one. Anyways, we love seeing you at the finish lines (especially in the bigger races) and commenting on our work outs and PR's that we post. It means more than you could know! We have started training with the Runner's World team. Right now, we are only doing the Saturday morning long runs with the group. It's broken up in to pace groups so we run with 20 other people who run the same pace we do. It's great to have that kind of support all around you. And we run down town which is always fun to see all the different things, parks and houses down there in detail. I encourage ANYONE who is looking to train for ANYTHING to check out this website, there is not a single reason you shouldn't join. It is FREE! They have other training runs during the week nights. I'm personally waiting for cooler weather before we hit those up!

 On July 4th my puppy Suki got out of the yard. We believe she was scared of the fire works and jumped the fence. We haven't found her. :-(

This was a huge hole in our family. Our other pup, Jackson, was very sad and depressed with out her. With in a few days of Suki's disappearance I got a call from a great friend who had found a young boxer out at her mom's house and knew that he would need a great home. She called me first, knowing our given situation... I told her I'd keep him for a while to see how he did with the baby and Jackson, if nothing else I could foster him until we found him a great home. He's sleeping at my feet right now 3 weeks later. See how that worked out..... He's a great dog, very relaxed and calm. Just what we need for our family. We're high strung enough as it is! We decided to name him Brooks. (Yes like the running shoe) He's a great runner, and I like to take him with me sometimes on our shorter runs. He will have to build some stamina, he gets tired about mile 2! But over all a great companion and added member to our family.

•  New Job
• Church
• Training
• Puppy

Those are all pretty big changes! SO needless to say we are definitely trying to find our GROOVE.