i'm your husband, that's my job

ok, as you know the weather is stopping the town today, but not me. i waited for the snow to start falling and invited chris to go out with me. if you have to choose, i figure the snow is more fun to run in than sleet or freezing rain. as we were dodging the new hazards of low icesicle hanging branches i thanked chris for coming with me and supporting my crazy ideas. his response "i'm your husband, that's my job". and i must say he does his job very well. thankful for another mile, another day, and a great husband.

kristin

daily run perk 3

forgot my running shoes today when went to the gym. had to work late. needed to get in the minimum run..... luckily the temperatures were in my favor (60*). enjoyed eli's company as he rode his scooter and chalked up another mile for himself too. these short minimum runs are really paying off.
kristin

"look out for that speed trap ahead"

long run today. decided (but not signed up yet) to run okc half in april. there is some reason i haven't signed yet but it is unbeknownst to me. had time to let the thoughts roll today....

1. i have actually been looking forward to the long run which is unusual. i think the daily running has been a part of that. recently i have been considering what is the best kind of run: short, long, intervals, hills, track, pace, etc....answer.... the best kind of run is one that leaves you wanting to run more.

2. ran roads today that haven't been on since we moved. as chris and i were each listening to our music it dawned on me how many times we had run these same roads the past 3 years discussing pros and cons, should we/ shouldn't we of selling the house, eliminating debt, changing jobs, dealing with parenting issues, crying, laughing, etc. so much of what was decided out there is now reality. we have done it. i felt pride in that. we are making progress and taking chances. we've made some big strides towards living true to ourselves and following our passions.

3. decided to blog more often... from the quick mile after spin to the long runs and all in between. reason? i realized that often as we live moments we have no way to know which moment or moments will be the life impacting or life-changing ones for ourselves or for those around us. i'm really into the whole idea of story writing and character development right now and how it parallels the life we have the opportunity to create for ourselves each day. in Bird by Bird by anne lamott in reference to story writing and character development she says:

"you couldn't have had any way of knowing what this piece
of work would look like when you first started. you just knew
that there was something about these people that compelled
you, and you stayed with that something long enough for it
to show you what it was about."

4. somewhere between mile 6 and 7 today we came up on an old man grabbing his newspaper from the driveway. he shouted something to us. for some reason instead of just nodding and smiling having no idea what he said (related to the headphones i mentioned earlier) we both pulled out an earbud and said "what?" his reply "look out for that speed trap ahead!." then he proceeded to belly laugh at us as we acknowledged his wit and ran on. everyone needs a good dose of humble pie occasionally. of course we are ASSUMING that he was being sarcastic..... (we didn't see any cops the rest of the run)

kristin

daily running perk #2

daily one mile minimum run completed. perk of commitment today was time with eli alone. had time to discuss some frustration he was having and he was better when we were done. yeah for exercise big or small. it's all beneficial physically and emotionally.

kristin

unforseen perk of daily running #1

guess what!!!!

i can still say i have run every day this year. getting to be more of an impressive statement than it was jan. 2. somedays it's been 1 mile somedays more. but it has been everyday.

here is first perk- monday i had off from work. so my plan was to come straight home after 5:45am spin class and go back to bed, which i did. (i have been jumping on the treadmill after to get in my minimum mile for the day.) i figured i had the rest of the day to get in a run, which i did. however, as usually happens on days off the time just seems to speed up and disappear. before i knew it it was 7pm and i still needed to get to the grocery and make dinner. i had the fleeting thought to call the whole thing off again thinking of all the struggles it might save me in the future...but i did not. and boy am i glad! you rarely get to see the ripple effect of a commitment that you make, but this say i did. and i liked it.

as soon as i said i'm going to get in a quick mile before the store eli said he wanted to come. then because maggie didn't want eli to get more miles than her she was in. next up was drew who is slowly making his way to oklahoma city with his miles. all the kids were in without me even asking or begging. a first..... so chris and roxy joined us and we had a family mile run. AMAZING to say the least. it was one of those few times as a parent when you know you have done at least a few things right and have for the moment achieved an outcome so longingly desired. i savored it.

just an update: maggie biked 20 miles and run/walked 4
eli biked 9 miles and run 9
drew biked 2 and run/walked 4
not a bad start for the year.....


still running
kristin

Kristin -

Another first: I was home early today and on kid duty. Scott called around 5 - I was expecting him to say he was running late, or ask if he needed to stop by the grocery store, or something like that. I answer the phone and hear a simple, "You wanna go for a run?" I don't think HE has ever asked ME to go for a run. A bike ride? Yes. A walk? Yes. But he only runs when I beg him to go with me. I was so startled I thought I must have misunderstood. But no, he had a really stressful situation at work and just thought the best thing to do was tell me all about it on a run. Wow. That is beautiful.

Ardelle
PS: Regarding the group the other night - it went GREAT. Their thoughts were better than mine by far. Very good discussion about desperate vs. dedicated. But the best part came toward the end, when one guy asked if he could go to the bathroom. Without even thinking I said, "Oh, come on ... we'll be done in about ten minutes ... are you really desperate?" There was about 2 seconds of silence and then a burst of laughter. He just goes, "No, I'm not desperate but I AM dedicated when I have to go to the bathroom."

the run that almost wasn't

sometimes motivation comes from the most unusual sources...

yesterday i spent the day in a mental tug of war. will i run? will i not? it's 14 degrees for the high temperature. i've done something for exercise everyday this week (i usually allow one day at least to do nothing physical). we were working on the kids room. having good family time. did i mention the 12 degrees? planning on a long run sunday. i actually made a new year's resolution to "do less." this could be a first step in that direction... we had two different sets of company at the house during the day, one in the afternoon and one coming for dinner. did i mention the windchill made it feel even colder than the 12 degrees it was? however, to continue to be able to say that i'd run everyday this year lingered in my head. the agreement was a mile minimum to be able to count as a run. it wasn't that much. 8-9 min plus change time. back and forth, back and forth. what will i do.... during the day i was able to distract myself frequently. play it down. i mean the run everyday idea was just kinda tossed out there at new years because we were all running together those few days. it would be impossible to really run everyday this year, so i might as well stop now.

i had pretty much convinced myself this was going to be the end of the road. the second set of company had arrived. i was making dinner, but very distracted from the conversation at hand by this continuous internal dialog. was i really going to let it end this way. it was 7:30 pm. the sun had set. it was over. i was ok.....or i will be ok....or i don't know. when maggie walked in the kitchen and asked "mom, aren't you going to run today?" "you said you were going to try to run everyday this year." i looked at her and replied "i'm not really sure i said that. i mean, we were all talking about how cool it would be, but i'm not sure i actually said that." she responded "you should go".

i provided her with some of the dialog that had been running through my head all day. she listened, as did our company, probably thinking "i can't believe how much time and energy you've wasted on this today, either do it or not". maggie again simply said "you should go. there may be a day when you can't for some reason, but today you can. so since you can, i think you should.' she was right. the dinner for our guests was in the oven for 20 min. i had time. i had a choice.

i invited magggie and eli to come along on their bikes, which they both turned down initially, and headed up to change. as i was changing maggie came in and said she would go with me. awesome!!! we both bundled up, put the leash on roxy and headed out the door. one more day, one more mile.

the thing is... how many other times do i let this inner dialog squander an ideal or waiting adventure? too many. maggie reminded me that i might not succeed in running everyday this year but i can run today. and today got me one day closer to everyday.

still running-
kristin