These are my legs, well part of them. No biggie, right? For normal people yes, this would be no biggie. But I'm far from normal. I've hidden in my clothing for so dang long! I have hated my legs for as long as I can remember. Even now I don't like them that much. But they are super muscular (and a bit jiggly too) right now. I am proud of their strength. I am proud of how far I've come with running. And I also don't want to run in sweats all summer. Talk about torture! So I bought a pair of running capris. My legs are white, like really, really, really white. They never see the sun, they're blinding. But I've been wearing these off and on for a month now (I only have one pair...they need to be washed between wearings and all). I feel completely exposed between the blinding skin showing and being skin tight. But I'm branching out of my comfort zone and that's a pretty big deal for me!
This is me, droopy looking eye and all (I swear I don't really have a droopy eye...I don't think). This is my newish dress. Again, not a big deal for most. But a huge deal for me. Last summer I really wanted a maxi dress. I went to Old Navy and tried them on since they had about a million to choose from. I looked like a whale in a muumuu. It's was humiliating to say the least. And I did NOT get a maxi dress. Fast forward to now. I'm not at my goal weight. In fact, I'm stuck in a big ol' plateau, but I'm in MUCH better shape than a year ago and I got a maxi dress! And it's so comfortable! If I had money I'd probably buy all the maxis I could find...with sleeves, you know, because of my funky Mormon underwear and all. And that necklace...that's me breaking out of my comfort zone again. It's from Down East Basics, probably my favorite store ever! (I love their layering shirts!) Oh and the dress is a size MEDIUM!!! MEDIUM!!!!! Wahoo!
Welcome to my sideways pictures, I'll try to make your stay here short.
On Saturday I ran a 5K. Sort of...it was supposed to be a 5K, the people running it called it that. But I tracked it...and have run parts of it again since then and it was NOT 3.1 miles. It was 2.72 miles. My time was just seconds over 26 minutes. I'd love that to be real. But my previous fastest 5K was in March and that was just seconds over 29 minutes. I haven't improved that much...or at all since this 5K was a bit hilly (again, people running it lied when they said it was a flat course, haha!) and at an elevation about 1000 feet higher than my last. But whatever, I was coming close to PRing and wish they hadn't screwed up the distance. But at least I got a cool (to me) shirt out of the deal! And it wasn't an expensive race and raised money for a good cause. And my goodie bag came with a $5 gift certificate to the outlet malls. Woot! Oh and this is a pic of me AFTER the race...sans makeup and all sweaty. Sexy, no? No!!!! Haha!
After the above 5K we visited with my brother-in-law in Aurora to take him cookies and homemade cards for his birthday. And since we were in the area we decided to check out a local running store. They'd been one of the sponsors of my race and I was curious. I got this tee that I just love! It's so soft and I ran in it the next day and it was so comfy! Plus being a huge fan of the Boston area (having married a man from back there and all) I loved that all proceeds from it went to the One Fund (or whatever it's called...I know, I'm lame and don't know the official name).
What's a pie eating contest picture doing on my exercise/fitness/health/whatever-you-want-to-call-it blog? It's me keeping it real. My oldest won the privilege of being her class representative in the pie eating contest at their party a couple weeks ago. She didn't win, but she had a blast. And life is too short not to do this kind of stuff once in awhile.
I have so many emotions about what happened in Boston on April 15th. The Boston Bombings were horrific! These losers attacked my favorite city, my favorite sport, and truly innocent people. I was ticked! I want the remaining bomber to suffer...a lot! I want answers first. The victims deserve answers! But then I want him to suffer! Screw lethal injection! Screw a firing squad (any state still do those?)! Screw hanging (again, any state still do this?)! Put that effer in a big ol' field, tie him up, place a pressure cooker bomb full of crap next to him and set that bugger off! Then let him lay there and bleed out. And yet, that's still too compassionate. (I know, I'm a democrat, so I should be all for life in jail and whatnot, or so I'm told...but whatever, this guy needs to suffer and I am more than my political party of choice! Bet you're all glad now I'm not in charge of this stuff, huh?) Anyway, back to the picture. This was April 15th. It was 27 degrees here and snowing. I was angry. I was trying to process my emotions. I was glued to the news coverage. My husband came home and I went for a run. It was a super short run, but I got out there and ran for those who were hurt and couldn't run. I ran for those 3 who died. I ran for the runners who didn't get to finish the race. I ran because I could run!
And my final picture is a screen shot of Nike+ from Monday. I ran. It was bloody hot!!! Not kidding, mid 70s is bloody hot to me if I'm out in the sun and running. I hadn't done a long run in 3 weeks. This was shorter than my last long run, but it was all I could handle. I was dying! Never again will I go that long between long runs! But I still did it. I got out there and ran.
Why is running so important to me? Because I can do it! I'm an only child, so I don't have siblings to look to, to see how their health is. I just have my parents. And their health freaking SUCKS!!!! Both are diabetic. Totally lame! My dad has been in and out of hospitals for the last six months with stuff eating his bones, infecting his legs, etc. He's been semi-retired. He's in surgery as I write this. He's looking into a new career...no idea what yet. Because he'll likely have to be semi-retired for another six months and he just can't do that. At 63 he's having to rethink his life. And that sucks! I'm terrified of getting like that. I'm half made up of his DNA. My mom's diabetes is super lame, she's insulin resistant. Scary stuff! She also has been tracking her calories because she's gaining weight while eating an amount that most people would lose eating. The doctor has been running tests and basically has concluded that she's genetically per-destined to be fat. So not awesome! So they're trying some drug on her to see if it will help. All of that scares me! That's my genetics. That's what made me! So I run. I run often. I push myself. I go to the fitness center at our complex and I use the bike and the elliptical machine. I do Jillian Michaels dvds almost daily. I eat mostly good food. I spent too many years not caring enough and I don't have the luxury of doing that. I have a husband and three little girls that I want to live for. Not just being here physically. But being able to actually LIVE and be active and participate in life. Every time I run I feel like I have diabetes chasing me, so I run more. My average run is just over 5 miles. On a bad day I run over 3 (unless it's snowing, then I don't last even that long...why do I live in a snowy state?!?!!). My longest run is 11 miles. I'm eying a half-marathon this summer and another in September. I'm registered for a 5k in August and am looking for others in between now and then. I will not succumb to what my genetics are. I will fight!
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