Two of the hardest and best accomplishments of my life, were definitely running a full marathon (x2), and childbirth (x2).
Here is how I think I looked during my first marathon…lol
LOL
I celebrate the later of these two accomplishments today, as we celebrate the 8th birthday of my youngest daughter.
Let me back track almost 15 years, to the birth of my first daughter. The pregnancy was difficult, I had several miscarriages, my then marriage SUCKED, and I felt completely isolated and alone living far away from my immediate family. Childbirth was difficult but my Mom drove out to be with me thankfully. Despite my love for my first born, immediately I swore…I’d NEVER. EVER. have more kids. My body wasn’t made for this, and this one little gift from God was mine, and I couldn’t want for anything more…
Fast forward almost 4 years, and I met the love of my life who not only loved me, but my daughter as well. A year later we were married, and a year after that we decided to try and have a baby. Within the first month I was pregnant, and nearly just as quickly I lost the baby. I wasn’t sure I could do this again…but we didn’t give up, and mid fall of 2005 we found out we were going to have a baby.
My pregnancy went without a hitch or hiccup. I was healthy as a horse (and nearly as big as one too) and worked up until my due date. Little Miss Sophia was almost a week late, deciding she would do things on HER time. (And that hasn’t changed a bit, lol). August 5th, 2006 my beautiful princess was born.
This post is dedicated to my daughters…may YOU never feel less then AMAZING-every-single-day. For your sense of wonder, inner beauty, passion for life and quirky personalities amaze ME every-single-day!!! Never, ever let the system squash your spirit!!! At the end of the day, it’s the effort you put forth in life that reaps the benefits. Be it in running, goals, parenting, careers, or relationships…it is ALWAYS worth it in the end.
I only ran ONCE last week. Yup. I can proudly admit that my life outside of running got in the way of my training, and I am totally ok with it.
Monday-rest
Tuesday-run 4 miles
Wednesday-Fox Valley Marathon planning meeting and packing for our trip
Thursday-my youngest daughters first dance recital and more packing
Friday-We hit the road running for our mini vacation to Michigan.
I packed my running clothes, but in all honesty this weekend was about family. We don’t get away very often, so when we got the chance we jumped at it like Olympic athletes. We spent our weekend at the beach, shopping, eating, walking, swimming, and site seeing. I honestly couldn’t have asked for a better weekend, well…maybe if we could get that trip to Italy, LOL.
With that, I leave you with this…hang on to those who support, love, motivate, inspire, and push you to keep moving forward. I love my family despite our crazy quirks, as I know these 3 people are my cheerleaders, ALWAYS.
At the end of the day, it isn’t about our bank accounts, our pay checks, or our cars or homes. Life is truly about the relationships, moments, and memories that we make each and every day!
I didn’t get my run in, Sunday. Nope…although I had planned on a quick short run of 3 miles, my body protested and instead I found myself stripping off my scrubs Sunday at 3 p.m. and pouring myself into the freshly washed sheets that embraced me lovingly with their freshly perfumed scent after just coming out of the dryer. I set my alarm for 4:30, smiled sheepishly at my running shoes, and as soon as my head hit the pillow I was OUT.
Yup…this was totally ME.
Work this weekend…well, was work. I am so far out of my comfort zone trying to manage an ENTIRE laboratory vs. just my section so by Sunday afternoon my brain was fried. Between nasty phone calls from angry customers, and trying to troubleshoot problems in which I didn’t even understand the process, I needed a NAP. Hmmm…this seems to becoming a pattern on my blog lately, no? LOL
I admit, I don’t get enough sleep…my “free time” in the evening starts at around 8-9 p.m. and with that, I mean time to get cleaning, laundry, meals prepped and chores done that I’ve let pile up far too long…But I wouldn’t trade a single second for the world. Although I’d love if someone went grocery shopping for me, since I forgot to squeeze that in today…
Sunday night, I was blessed to spend the evening with friends, celebrating one of my running friends birthday. It took my break away, the love that can be felt in a room full of people who primarily run together. We don’t work together, we don’t have kids in the same schools or sports, we don’t go out very often outside of lacing up in the wee hours of the morning to run or race. But get a group like this together on any given night, let alone a birthday and you will feel the connection and bond for miles. These friends have stuck with you in the toughest of miles, they have laughed with you on long runs when your delirious mode sets in full force, and they have helped keep you motivated to KEEP MOVIN’ FORWARD.
Some of my amazing running friends…<3
Last night, I caught this GREAT shot of the super moon…and it was retweeted by the Kane County Chronicle! YAY ME! I love capturing awesome moments with my camera.
Super Moon, 7/15/2014
Today, I was able to reconnect with my sister that I haven’t seen since May. She and I, along with my kids, and hers minus 1 met for lunch today. IT WAS GREAT. Man I miss those little people (although most of them tower over me already, lol), and her SO much. We’ve agreed this will become a habit!!! It was great to chat, eat good food, and just let the kids be silly. Maybe too silly for a restaurant, but hey, they don’t see each other very often, LOL. She has always been such a huge inspiration to me, and I need to make more time for her and her amazing family.
A shout out to my sister…who didn’t leave my side for 26.2 miles in 2012, and in life. LOVE. But who is that random dude to our left? LOL
I should’ve come home and cleaned…but instead I watched “Hook” with my daughters after running to Target for new swimsuits for our mini-vacation to Michigan in 2 weeks. My first “Mom” suit, and I think it’s pretty cute!
Does it make me old to really think this suit is amazing?
I did make this amazing crab salad for dinner. Super easy, and pretty healthy. I also made my own take on dressing using blue cheese yogurt dressing, to which I added crumbled bacon, chives, and garlic to make it complete! DELISH!
This took literally 15 minutes to make! And my kids loved it!
I’ve been pretty lax in my training this summer, and I have to admit despite missing the mileage of a full marathon training schedule, it has been great just having fun with my running. The winter of 2015 will bring full marathon training and I know my legs will thank me for relaxing this summer/fall.
At the end of the day, I find myself beyond thankful that I have remained pretty healthy despite my right knee acting up from time to time. I think resting last winter and running only casually helped, and I will repeat this “resting” process as my knees have nearly 30 years of mileage on them.
I’ve taken a step back from the electronic world so to speak somewhat. I have decided that I need to regroup, and refocus on my passions.
Yesterday my hubby and I went out for our 4 mile training run. I briefed him that this run would be at a steady pace, and that he simply needed to stick with me. We are in week 8 of an 18 week training plan while juggle working weekends, life, kids, and disintegrating windows coming off of our sum pump failing. So last night after our appointment with Pella window dudes, we laced up and ran.
My dailymile recap went a little like this:
Great training/fartlek run with Brian. I can’t decide between my favorite moment for this run:
Jumping in the puddles, flying with my arms spread open yelling WHEEEEE, or Brian asking me to sneak off in to the woods, or kicking his butt while barreling up the hills at a 9:06 pace…
Splits were 9:30, 9:27, 9:12, and 8:51.
BOOYAH
10 more weeks!
We completed our 4 mile run at a 9:15 pace, and held strong with negative splits. But the best part of it all? Spending the evening celebrating with a glass of wine, and talking. I am blessed to be married to my best friend, the man I can share everything with…after talking about our friend’s pregnancy, we revisited the miscarriage we encountered just shortly before the conception of our baby Sophia in 2005. And I cried. I wiped the tears away remembering how hard it was to lose a child. But I was blessed by a gift from God to have been blessed with a second child after doctors telling me to NOT try again in 2006.
I continue to wipe away the tears after reading the book, “One Lavender Ribbon” written by Heather Burch. This book was about a women in her late 20’s that was recently divorced. She picked up her life, moved to Florida and decided to restore a Victorian home. While doing so, she found letters written in the WWII time frame, and sought out the Veteran that the letters were addressed to…in turn she found family, love, and hope.
My night was complete after taking my youngest to her dance class. Her passion is music and dance, and for years I couldn’t find a class that adhered to the working Mother schedule. Yet for the last 4 weeks I have been able to come home from work, get her ready, and take her to class.
Does it get cuter than this?
And so, and the end of the crazy busy day, I realize how very blessed I am. I work. I train. I am a Mom. I am a wife. I am a friend. And it’s all just plain awesome.
I posted the question on my Facebook fan page today, as to whether or not people are flexible with their workouts. As I was driving home from work tonight, my husband texted saying he was running late with meetings therefore our scheduled run would have to be postponed. I could’ve freaked out and ran without him, but I am so excited that he is embracing running that I opted to move our scheduled run from today, to tomorrow.
So what do you do when you have a night free from running? Take a nap Cook dinner and housework, of course, finished with some much needed strength training.
I really wanted a nap…just sayin’…
Tonight I made homemade crab cakes with spinach and cornflake ‘crumbs’ to keep them gluten free. Although I don’t have Celiac disease, I have noticed limiting my gluten has helped my Irritable Bowel Syndrome. I served them with red beans that I soaked and sautéed for HOURS along with cauliflower and shitake mushroom yummy goodness. Yup, overall delish! (I only had one tiny piece of bread, lol, I am weak).
After dinner while my husband mowed our ginormous yard, I thought hmmm…maybe I should run. Maybe…but the yummy food stuffs had settled nicely in the bottom of my stomach, so I opted to clean windows, and do my strength work out which consisted of:
3 sets of bicep curls
3 sets of shoulder presses
3 sets of squats-25 each
50 sit ups
50 push ups
tacking on a 2 mile walk today for good measure
Tomorrow the ‘window guy’ will come and assess our windows…I am nervous after having just spending a pretty penny on 2 sum pumps, but the condensation is getting so terrible that it needs to be addressed. Oh, and after this lovely appointment my hubby and I have some miles to tackle.
The ultimate point of this post is, are you flexible with your work outs when life stuff gets in the way?
I caveat this post, with the fact it has nothing to do with food, or fitness-at least the physical type…
I will however say, it has a lot to do with moving forward, or ‘keep movin’ forward as my mantra states.
First point: Social media doesn’t always make you socially connected with people. Can I get an amen? It hit me recently that while scrolling through news feeds and ‘liking’ people’s posts, I still felt very removed from many people’s lives.
I have been doing a little ‘soul searching’ journey if you will over the last several weeks. More so, because I saw myself spiraling back in a bit of a negative funk that I did NOT want to revisit.
While on my bike ride last weekend, I decided to open my mind up a bit, and try and figure out what my deal was lately…
Guess what…I realized that despite who I wanted to blame, it was MY fault for allowing others creep up on my joy like thieves in the night…Time for some “Talk to the hand” action again. Right?
So lately on this journey of moving forward, I decided I would put forth more effort in things I found tugging at my heart. One, is being so close, yet still so far apart from my family. Realizing you can’t just pick up the pieces after being gone for 20 years I knew I needed to try harder. I miss them dearly, so I picked up the phone…
I reached out to my sister first, and we’ve decided to run Grandma’s Marathon in Duluth Minnesota next summer. She has ran the race previously, but since this race is in our hometown I thought HOW COOL would it be to run it TOGETHER!!!! She agreed, and we signed up on opening day-July 1st.
With that, I WON a shirt and a goodie bag for sign up on opening day. HOW. COOL. IS. THAT. LOL…ok, maybe not that cool but having not won many things in the past, this girl was stoked. My hometown marathon!
Secondly, I called my parents last night…often times a month can go by without us catching up as life gets busy, and time is easily lost track of in the midst of careers, travel, life, kids, training, household disasters, etc…LOL.
In the end, I am glad I picked up the phone vs. just liking status posts or pics on fb…sometimes you need to hear that person’s voice to really feel that social connection.
Is it me, or is social media making us LESS social?
Wednesday went a little like this:
Today was a busy day…we’ve got turnover in staff, stress, and work piling on…and I LOVE IT.
I nearly broke under pressure, but regrouped quickly…and was even told what I good job I did presenting an issue to one of our VP’s. #lifeisgood
But in all the chaos, running errands after work, and getting things settled my amazing husband said, “We are running.”
I am so proud of his dedication to our pre-half marathon training.
I had a terrible headache. I was tired.
I ran 4 miles with my amazing husband who has embraced my craziness. 4 miles with Brian on Wednesday!
But most of all, I shared my passion with the person who knows me best. He looked at my around mile two, and had a smile from ear to ear and my heart sang. He realized where my running joy stemmed from…
We ran hills, and on the downward stretch I found myself “WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEING” all the way down.
I love to run. Even more so, with my people…my persons. My HOME of all homes.
Fast. Slow. Steady. Stopping.
There is something to be said about the constants we have in life. And I. Have many…Family, friends, food, fitness, fotos….my constant passions and reminders that I have a greater purpose in this crazy world…
Tonight we went out to dinner not for a special occasion really, but more so to celebrate how far we’ve come in life, in our marriage, and in being able to tackle so many struggles.
Check it out… Our amazing menu tonight!
Did someone say, wine??Lamb loin with fiddleheads? Yes please…
We spent the evening (our rest day) surrounded by what some would call strangers. But we talked, laughed, and conversed with members of our local community we had not yet met before, yet became fast friends.
The owner of the vineyard remembered us from a previous wine dinner nearly two years ago. She welcomed us passionately, and I was reminded why I fell in love with Fiddlehead Cellar winery. It’s premise is passion…and you can see it in the owners eyes. We were blessed to sit with her at the head table during a wine dinner two years ago along with her Mother, and the memory will forever be engrained in my heart and mind.
And at the end of the day I realize life is all about passion, constants, and moving forward.
For more than 2 1/2 decades, I’ve used running as a source of therapy. I started running in junior high school as a way of trying to find my place in a time where I felt very OUT of place (who didn’t as a young teen, right?).
From a young age, I never felt like I really ‘belonged’ anywhere, and for most of my teen and adult life I suffered from sometimes, quite severe depression.
In 2007 I hit my WALL in life. That moment where in a marathon you feel you just CAN’T take another step, where it hurts to breathe, and even blinking seems painful….Yes…I was there…and it was scary to say the least.
Yet the love I have for my family came bounding to the forefront, and I knew I had to change, to lift myself up, and to start moving forward.
So I signed up for my first half marathon in September of 2007, with only 8 weeks to train. The San Antonio Rock and Roll half marathon will always hold a special place in my heart.
I could barely run ONE mile without walking, but I was moving…My training brought me a new found respect for running, and re-ignited a fire that had been lying dormant for many years. I would work all day, come home to make dinner and feed my then 8 and 1 year old daughters. As soon as my husband got home from work, I’d pass off the kids, and head out the door to run. And after 8 weeks of hard and grueling training, I completed my first half marathon in 2 hours and 19 minutes. Just typing this recap brings tears to my eyes. THIS choice, to train for a half marathon despite my hardships that I was going through, was life saving.
Since then after retiring from the Air Force in 2011, I have completed several more half marathons (Half Fanatic #3915), and 2 full marathons, with my PR’s being 2:02/4:25 respectively. My favorite race of all time, is the Fox Valley Marathon. The Fox River trails are my home away from home, and also volunteering for this race has made it near and dear to my heart.
My goals for this year are to focus on my half marathon speed, but regardless of the race, you’ll be sure to see me smiling.
Why?
Some say running has saved their lives, and I piggy back that sentiment, partially.
Partially?
Yes. Because for me, MAKING THE CHOICE to run, to train, to race, THAT has saved my life. And this ongoing choice, has made me both stronger, and happier all around.
I don’t run to win races. I run, to keep movin’ forward. #pacesetter @womenraces #keepmovinforward
Life is short.
All too often we get caught up in THINGS. But life isn’t about STUFF. It’s about moments, lives, love, family, friends, and moving forward. This week I was told I am losing my job in the spring due to cut backs in budget, healthcare, etc…I found myself heading in a downward spiral, and it terrified me. But instead of throwing in the towel, I maintained my work out schedule after coming home from work, preparing meals and keeping my crazy household maintained.
Life is good.
I have my health so far…and I have made it through almost 41 years without any major illness’s. At work today, I had to process a specimen on a very young (40’s) man that has stage 4 cancer. It never gets easier….23 years in the same field, and it. never. gets easier.
Life is meant for living.
People often ask why I continue to put the work and effort in to my Facebook page, when I am not making a profit from the efforts.
Why?
Because just today, I received two messages in regards to my efforts.
The first:
“Cheers to you my friend. I know this birthday will be filled with lots of emotions. What a great year, you’ve made so many new friends, Moved so many people with your page, food, photos….just remember that you do not have to be defined by what you ‘do’, be defined by what you ‘love’, and who loves YOU. May all your wishes come true.
The second:
I wanted you to know that you have a follower (keeping name private), she does your AB challenge with her daughter, she reads your posts every day and loves your page. Your page is awesome, she loves it. Just wanted you to know you have a strong reach…
Touching lives, inspiring others, MOVIN’ forward is such a joyous part of living to me…
Despite a rough week, my heart is full tonight. And I realize…Life…IS. What it IS, is up to YOU.
Today was my first race in over 3 months since I tore my Achilles tendon. Yet when my friends asked if I wanted to sign up for the Polar Dash race series, I was excited to have a race to look forward to again.
We headed out early, despite the challenges of slippery roads, time set backs, and yes, me forgetting my trail shoes and having to run home to get them.
We got to the starting point literally less than 10 minutes before the 14 mile start. I missed meeting up with some amazing women, but did catch Penny from 26.Yikes and SarahJeanne from In Mid Stride.
Lots of laughter, hugs, and chatting and we were FREEZING, but happy.
We headed to the start corral, and I realized WOW…I am doing this. BRRRR….
Not a 1/4 mile in, and we were faced with standing water, ice, and detours through snow banks. But we were HAVING FUN. Crazy right? I mean, really, who signs up for any sort of distance in JANUARY, in CHICAGO? Yup…we did.
So we took a lot of pictures. Stopped to walk the icy parts, and the best part? I didn’t look at my Garmin, at all.
Several comment were made about our attire…and the best being named the “Polar Princess’s” and the “Tutu crew.”
We stayed together.
No runner left behind.
We finished happy.
And afterwards we all met up for lunch, and of course the traditional Bloody Mary. Yup. I drank that.
And in the end, people can question our pace time, our finish time, or how we placed….
But guess what. For THIS race, NO ONE cared. It was about being together as friends, laughing, talking, reconnecting, and just RUNNING to be free.
While eating lunch and shortly there after, I found myself laughing…laughing, and smiling so hard I had tears streaming down my face.
THIS is something I don’t do often enough…
But I did it today. And I’m better for it. I thank all of my friends and family, both near and far, for giving me a reason to smile, laugh, live, and run.
Movin' it with Michelle 