A Meme

It's been awhile since I tagged myself for a meme!  Yes, I said, "tagged myself" since I don't think anyone has even tagged me since I've been ... ahem ... blogging.  LOL.

Here goes ...

8 things to which I am looking forward

1.  My 20 year college reunion - in 2 weeks!

2.  Seeing my mom (and my other family members) at my brother's wedding in September.

3.  (Hopefully) going to Martha's Vineyard with the kids and another family this summer.

4.  Bringing in my first economic development deal (work).

5.  Getting this current rheumatoid arthritis flare under control.

6.  Starting marathon training (June - yikes!).

7.  Getting my house decorated the way I really want it done.

8.  Progressing with respect to my swimming! 

8 things I did yesterday

1.  Ran 10 miles in 1:39:01.

2.  Spent 5 hours shopping with my mom and my kids (bought 2 pair of shoes and some workout stuff).

3.  Made my kids' lunch.

4.  Watched "Trouble the Water" with my mom (2nd time for me) - EXCELLENT FILM!!!!!

5.  Ate a salted pretzel.

6.  Jammed out to some gospel music.

7.  Traded text messages with one of my good friends.

8.  Kissed my babies, my husband and my mom.

8 things I'd like to do

1.  Go back to Jamaica.  STAT!

2.  Experience a great 1st marathon.

3.  Get my race paces somewhere in the 8's for distances above a 5K

4.  Maintain and continue to grow my hair - which is currently healthy, long and beautiful!  Thanks Biotin!

5.  Keep my job (unless I land a dream job).

6.  Get our refinancing taken care of.

7.  Break the sugar habit (again).

8.  Eat healthier (I'm getting better at this, but still have a ways to go).

8 shows I watch

1.  Intervention

2.  The Real Housewives of [all cities, so far]

3.  Jon & Kate + 8 (can you believe all the gossip and drama recently?  Yikes!)

4.  Real World Challenge - The Gauntlet

5.  America's Next Top Model

6.  Deadliest Catch

7.  She's Got the Look

8.  I'll dedicate this to some of my old favorites:  Blowout, Workout, Family Plots, The Surreal Life, Strange Love, Being Bobby Brown (this was jaw-droppingly fascinating to me, LOL), The Jury Room, I Survived, almost anything on the Discovery Health Channel ...

I Love A Challenge

I love a good challenge.  Not necessarily a tough challenge, but some sort of goal hanging out there in the future to keep me motivated and on track.  Following training programs and training for races is a perfect example of  having a good challenge to keep me motivated.  Additionally, I will informally name a particular time period, "Cross-train month" or "Eat Clean week" or "Don't Spend Any Money Month."  I've actually designated May as the Last Chance to Party Month bceause I start marathon training in June, and I've said that from June to October, I'm going to try to be all about health, fitness and training.  We'll see. 

At work, I'm pursuing a particular speciality within my practice area.  Before I really defined my goals, it was hard to take any steps at all, but once I defined my goals and outlined some objectives, I got really excited to have a structure and framework to work within. 

In blogland, many bloggers create different challenges, and I love reading about them, even if I don't participate.  Well, this time I am participating, in one of my new-favorite bloggers' challenges.  Bobbi, of NHerShoes, created a Simple Life Challenge, and I'm going to particpate.  In this challenge, you get points for making homeade meals, commuting to work in a "green" way (carpooling, running, biking, walking, etc.), and for any other frugal/simple/green things that you do.  Now let's be honest - I'm *not* going to win, for a couple reasons.  First of all, today is the first day of the challenge and I had to buy my breakfast and will have to buy lunch, since I was traveling for work until this morning.  Also, since I live 26 miles from where I work, and I'm in "sunny" Texas, there is no way that I'll ever be green in the way I get to work.  AND, I'm going to be traveling again during the last weekend in May, so I know I will be eating out then.  BUT, I should be able to make all of my meals on the other days, and there are plenty of other simple/green/frugal things I can do to accumulate points.  I'm excited!!

I'll try to make sure to come back and update you guys on everything I did. 

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Oh, and Ragnar L.A. was *great*.  We just really had a great time.  Oh, and my running?  I was so pleased!  I averaged about 9:00 min/mile for all 19 miles!  I felt really good out there, even with my last hilly run.  My knees and ankles were pretty sore afterwards, so I just completely rested and did not run, from Saturday until the following Wednesday.  Wednesday night I just ran 3 miles when I arrived at my hotel and I felt pretty good (tried out my new shoes).  Will probably run again Sunday, then starting next week, I'll be shooting for 25 miles/week plus Jillian Michaels, all the way until June 1, when I start MARATHON TRAINING. 

I am so excited/nervous/scared/terrified/happy to start marathon training.  A full marathon?  WOW!!  

It's Been Way Too Long

 ... so you know that I don't have time to actually write a true update.    In times like these, random posts are the only way to go!  Heeeere goes:

* My life is crazy right now.  It feels like that horrible airline flight when, after, an initial shock caused by turbulence, I looked over at the woman next to me and assured her, "It's ok," when, in fact, I was scared out of my mind and, moments later, would be calling on Jesus OUT LOUD while staring wildly out of the window as the plane thrashed about.  I've been assuring various friends and relatives that they shouldn't panic about the recession, to keep things in perspective, blah, blah, blah, when in reality, I'm like this:  .

* Susan Boyle?  Is that her name?  I think I just caught the video after too much hype because I didn't shed a tear.  Normally that kind of thing would really move me, but it seemed rigged to me.  I mean, people assumed she couldn't sing because she was unattractive?  Weird!  I actually thought her voice matched her persona very well.  *shrugs*

* Leaving for L.A. in a few days to run the Los Angeles Ragnar Relay.  So, I'm doing a total of 19+ miles.  GULP.  Originally, and until a few days ago, it was only 15+.  My last run is 9.5 miles, with the first 4.5 being uphill.  Actually, let's see, here it is:

Is that not CRAZY?  And that will be my 3rd run of the 'day'.  Whatever, I'm just going to take it veeeery slowly.  Right about now, I'm really not feeling in the mood to do the race, or be around my awesome MILF teammates.  I hope I can get a major attitude adjustment between now and Thursday. 

* Been dealing with some health issues.  Did I ever write about how I was absolutely, 100% certain I had ovarian cancer?  *sigh*  Well, I was, but have now had 2 ultrasounds which pretty much prove that I don't have ovarian cancer.  So, that meant that my unexplained G.I. issues needed to be addressed on their own.  In trying to figure out what might be wrong, I decided to eat clean to see if that helped.  I did that for almost 3 weeks, but still had issues.  So ... I will be having a colonoscopy soon.  Uugh.  Crazy thing is that ever since I had the appointment with the G.I. doc (who thought, based on my description of my issues, I might have IBS or Celiac), I have had no G.I. issues, so who knows.  *BIG SIGH*

* Xanga advertised that they have a new feature that allows you to publish your updates to Facebook.  HAH!  Are you kidding?  That would be the worst thing in the world - like if I mistakenly checked the box?!  ROFL!  I would die!  I don't want anyone I know in real life (unless I originally met you through the Internet) to know that I have a blog, and I damned sure don't want anyone I know to actually read this thing. (Now is where I picture a handful of people I know in real life laughing out loud saying, "If she only knew!")

* My rheumatoid arthritis is very active in the mornings in my elbows and hands.  I truly believe that running keeps it at bay from the rest of my body.

* I really need to pray about my career.

* I took an adult fear-of-water swim class about a month ago, and it was GREAT!!  I really need to sign up for the 2nd session, because my current fear is that I will lose all of the "skills" I acquired if I don't keep it going.

* The guys on Making the Band are the biggest bunch of crybabies (umm, that's putting it nicely) I have ever seen.  Gheesh!  I'm wondering if it's even real just because there is So.Much.Drama and gnashing of teeth!

* I had one of the best massages, ever, a few weeks ago.  Has me obsessed with going back for more.    And yes, it was a professional massage - get your minds out of the gutter! 

* Running has been going fairly well.  In this post-Mardi Gras half, pre-Chicago marathon training period, I've basically been doing my own thing, and shooting for 30 miles per week, a goal which I have only achieved once.  I think I've been averaging maybe 25-26 miles per week ... which is good enough, I guess, for starting 16 (or 18?) weeks of marathon training.  I have *not* however, had the energy to incorporate any cross-training (e.g., Jillian Michaels) into my regimen.  Hopefully once marathon training starts I'll be more disciplined all the way around and can fit it in.

Thats's all for now! 

HOW MUCH DO I HAVE TO PAY?

FOR THESE ABS?

I'm so sick of seeing this picture on Facebook.  Just tell me how much it will cost me, and I will pay.  But I want those abs in the picture!

Thangs

1.  Thanks to everyone who voted for my kids!  We were able to hold onto the 2nd place spot, and we won an 8 x 10 print of the image.  Deanna is an amazing photographer, so another print from our photo session is a great prize!

2.  I must say, though, that I was somewhat dismayed that I have 250+ "friends" on Facebook, and despite numerous pleas, I only ended up with 169 votes (many of which were from non-Facebook people).  It really ticked me off, though I shouldn't be surprised. 

3.  I just emerged, today, from the most intense spell of hypochondria that I think I have ever had.  It's just ridiculous.  I have an entire blog entry in my head about how hypochondria really works (at least for me), and hopefully I'll post it soon.  But the bottom line is that, after receiving positive news from my doctor today, I told myself, "Never again!".  What a waste of time and nervous energy! 

4.  For whatever reason, I am sold on getting Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred video.  I'm not much of a DVD exerciser, though I used Tae-Bo to get back in shape after having my youngest daughter (and it was great), but I have heard such great things about how hardcore Jillian Michael's DVD is.  It's funny, I am not at all hardcore, but I like to think of myself as being totally hardcore. 

5.  Speaking of Jillian Michaels, I have never watched, "The Biggest Loser," so I wasn't familiar with her at all before hearing about her DVD.  But speaking of TBL, what the $#@* is this about the fake marathon of one of the contestants on the show?  I'm really pissed off at the show's producers (yes, I understand that I don't ever watch the show, but I'm still pissed, LOL).  If I did watch that show, this is the kind of thing that would make me VOW to never watch it again.  I HATE staged/fake reality shows.  And yes, most of them are fake ... but not the ones I like (the most).  Ever watch "Intervention"?  It doesn't get any more real than that!

6.  OK, so as far as my running goes, ever since the Mardi Gras half, my running has been pretty lame.  I am currently training for this:

but my three legs for that are pretty short, distance wise.  That having been said, I know the hills will be killer for a Dallas-ite like myself, so I know I need to pick it up.  Now that I am out of my hypochondria-induced fog (my "long" run on Sunday had to be cut down to 5 miles, because I was "too fatigued".  WTF????), I definitely plan to get with the program, and start really training.  Also, the weather is improving (I know, I'm in Dallas, it was never that bad, compared with other places, LOL), which is nice.  One of the problems I've been having is getting up early enough to get my runs in.  The Texas heat will force me to get my arse up out of bed nice and early, so I'm looking forward to that, weirdly enough.  I don't care if it's dark; it will be warm, and it will be early enough for me to get longer midweek runs in.

7.  This is important because I think I already wrote that I registered for:

OH MY GOSH, CAN YOU BELIEVE IT????  I registered for a FULL MARATHON!!!!!  I am so excited/scared/nervous/praying for good weather, etc.

Training starts in June!!  So ... after Ragnar, I'll have a few weeks to recover, then build/maintain a base, then it will be time to start!!!  I think I'm going to mainly use Hal Higdon Intermediate training program.  Why Intermediate?  Well, I've run four half marathons and will have completed two Ragnar Relays ... so I don't feel like a novice runner, even though I am a complete novice marathoner, AND I don't really have a time goal (anything 4:30 or under would be GREAT).  The Intermediate program maxes out at 50 MPW, but averages 35.8 MPW, which is definitely doable.  This plan seems doable, but also challenging, which is perfect.  Thoughts? 

That's it for now.  I'll be back with my Diary of a Hypochondriac post later (it all started when I was in the 5th grade and thought I had Yellow Fever - honest to God!).