Still Nothing New

Hi. How are you? Good? That's good. Me? I'm good. We've been on vacation, and now we're back, but we might go camping soon. How's the running? Eh. Still dealing with IT band issues. That's about it. I had really high hopes of running the Chicago 1/2 in August, but I can't get past a 2.0 mile mark where my leg seizes up completely. So there's that.

Stephan is working lots.

Sawyer is awesome. He's growing so fast and he's learning so many new things every day!! I think I'm learning more about myself than I expected too. For one thing, I learned that I say, "HEY!!" a lot because Sawyer has started saying it all the time. I'll try to get a video posted here in the next few weeks.

Until then- turn off your computer, get outside and take a walk!!

Hey Runner!

Stephan and I participated in the Ragnar relay from Madison to Chicago this weekend. Stephan ran. I drove the van. We had 11 runners. We were supposed to have 12, but one had a family emergency. I brought my shoes. Surely they would need someone to just step in (ha ha) for a leg or two... right?

Wrong. Eventhough there was a perfect little 4 mile run that I could have slipped into, they didn't let me run.

In another lifetime I would have just typed, "They didn't make me run." But I wanted to. I wanted to run so badly. Record my start time, figure my pace, slap that relay band on my wrist... cross the finish line with my team after achieving something amazing.

Nope. I stood with the stroller as they crossed together at 2:45 at Montrose Harbor. I made sure to stand far enough away so no one saw the tears in my eyes. Just to prove something, I went for a run yesterday. But I couldn't even make it one full mile before my lungs gave out.

I had a dream last night that I saw a man with the finisher's medal from a 1/2 marathon that's taking place in Chicago in August. So I went for another run today... just now. And came to a realization:

Finishing a marathon didn't make me a runner. Getting up the next day and going for a run did. Crying at someone else's finish line did. Running without anything tracking my run does. I ran today and I have no idea what my pace or distance was. And it doesn't matter. I ran because it felt good. I ran because I can. I ran because I wanted to.

THAT makes me a runner.

Worth a Look

I love finding motivation EVERYWHERE. I watch the Biggest Loser. I keep in touch with friends who run. I read websites and articles about fitness and healthy eating.

And I'm part of The 100 Challenge on Facebook. Anne from Portland is a personal trainer with two little kids. Once a month she posts a set of exercies that a bunch of people try to do 100 of in one day. I LOVE this. I love watching her videos with the kids stomping around. And I love that it's actually a pretty good challenge. Even if I only get 20 repititions done, it's fun and it's something.

I love it so much I started posting quick stretches after the exercises. It's a little uncomfortable for me to see myself on the internet, on a video, wearing SHORTS... but it's keeping me motivated. Check it out!

The 100 Challenge

PR

I gave a few talks in Montana about what yoga is and what it means. It included a short demonstration. I've taken a bunch of yoga classes, and watched a BILLION yoga videos. Yoga means "uniting". Uniting the body with the breath, the mind with the body, the person with the universe. Something you will hear from every yoga teacher in this country is to never compare your own yoga postures to anyone else's. Yoga is not a competitive sport.

I am starting to believe that running isn't a competitive sport either. This morning I had a fun discussion about what it means to PR. PR stands for Personal Record. Let's say you run a 5k in 45 minutes one day. The next time you run it in less than 45 minutes, you've just PR'd. Great job by the way!

It's all about the PR. How are YOU doing today? What was YOUR time? Stop looking at everyone else's time, speed, pace, cute pants. Wear your own cute pants.