Bella

My mother is a woman of surprises. First, she brought home a fish, next a bunny, then 5 more fish..... Last night, she brought a puppy. Every time she brought another animal home I would think to myself, "One day she's going to bring something bigger home, like a puppy."

Honestly, that thought alone made me frustrated because I felt like I would be doing all the work taking care of him or her. For some reason, I thought I would hate it!!!

Well last night, I was very annoyed to come home and Hailey and my mother weren't home. Finally when they did get home Hailey said, "We have a surprise!!" Yep, it was a puppy. At first I was mad!!! SOOOO mad! I explained to my mother that she really had no IDEA what she was getting herself into! We had never had a puppy or anything that required more attention than a cat! I told her that we were in trouble!

Well, the more I look at her, the more I fall in love with the idea of having a dog! As a child, I always wanted a Dalmatian, but NEVER got one... Even though this isn't a Dalmatian, it's a dog... and I am excited to have her. Even though I don't want all the hard work associated with having a puppy I think it'll be worth it in the end! So Everyone, this is Bella, our 6 week old white shepherd.

Why run???

I'm sure if you are a runner you've heard this question more than once. WHY? Usually I say "Why not" but I'm starting to think that's a generic answer....

First of all, I talk about running a lot. I like to tell people about it. I want to inspire people to run. Running has brought me a lot of joy and I want to share it. Sure it's not ALL fun all the time. It's hard. There are runs that I hate. Runs that I say "This is HARD!" Runs that practically defeat me but I charge forward anyway. There are runs and races where I think "Why am I doing this??? What was I thinking?" So why do I run? A lot of people can't understand what is going through my head when I run 5, 6, 7 + miles. I get even more surprised reactions now that I'm running a little bit longer.

Sometimes when I'm really pushing myself and my body is soooo tired I have a hard time enjoying runs. I think my favorite part is after; when you sit back and look at what you just did. It's like a surprise. HOW does someone train their body to do what us runners do? It's lot of practice and training for your body, and especially mind.

Every time I run, I feel like I've really accomplished something! It's like a daily victory.

Simply put: Running is REWARDING.

You feel good about yourself for getting it done! You feel strong! You feel healthy! It motivates you! It challenges you!

It makes me feel like I can accomplish ANYTHING! "Heck, I can run 10 miles so I can do that.... " The confidence running gives you is amazing!

Running has brought me to meet amazing and inspirational people. People that have changed my life and inspire me to push myself more every day!

Running teaches you so much, about yourself, your body and your limits! You learn how to take care of yourself again. From to nutrition, hydration, and even taking care of your muscles.... You get "schooled" in yourself.

So now you know, running is a gift.... and this is why I run.

I'll share the wealth.....

So I've never been a big "coupon-er" and I've never been one to look for discounts everywhere before buying. I really don't know what's gotten in to me. Anyway, my work requires shirts with a collar. I literally own maybe 3. So today is pay day. I decided to buy a couple more shirts. The couple I have are American Eagle brand and Aeropostale brand. I know, I know, I'm not 16 anymore.... But they fit me the best and they are super comfy. So I decided to go buy a couple more American Eagle ones. So I was happy to see they were on sale for $20.

So everytime I type to search a company in google.... you know it fills in with something it "thinks" you could be searching for? Well whenever I do that it fills in with coupons, or discounts. So I went ahead and decided to search for discount codes. I mean really, what the hell, it couldn't hurt and it could actually save me some money.

So I found this blog:

Coupon-Codes Online

At first I didn't think that the discount code would be valid, but sure enough it was. Saved me $6 on my purchase! Heck I'll take it. The site has a ton of discount codes for various places including amazon.com, Kohls, JC Penny, Target, and the list goes on. Not only can you find the discount codes for online purchases but you can also find printable coupons for groceries and other retailers! There are expiration dates for some of the offers, but it's totally worth checking out before you buy online! This blog is going in my favorites and I thought I'd share with you! Enjoy!

Comfort

It's Friday night, most people my age are out socializing, drinking, having a good time. My Friday night is at home, in bed, resting up for an early Saturday morning run. I've been throwing in some bigger runs.... big to me runs anyway.

5:15am the alarm went off. Just barely enough time to eat some food and get bundled up. I turned on the news to see what the temperature would be. It was in the single digits with a wind chill. Hmmm, this should be interesting. I know that if I don't go through with this run I'll feel terrible all day. I kept thinking about what I COULD do instead. I could head to the YMCA and run on the treadmill. I really wanted to do 10 today though. It would be easier, warm, and COMFORTABLE.

Really it seemed like the temperature wasn't an issue for me. I guess I wore enough layers. I was winded. Even though I didn't feel the cold on my skin, it was affecting the way I was breathing, it was hard. As we ran I wasn't sure how far we were going. I watch my garmin the whole first half. At 2.5 miles I thought maybe we could head back. I'd be happy with 5 for the day. Then at 3 miles, I thought 6 miles sounded pretty good. By mile 4 Adam asked me if I wanted to go for 8 or 10? And at that point, what's another mile? I'm glad we went on to 10. I had to shut that internal dialogue off. The entire first time I was worried about what was going to be easy or comfortable.

Then I started to think about the whole comfortable thing. Being comfortable isn't going to make me stronger or faster. Being comfortable isn't going to help me be a better or faster runner. In order to improve, I must push limits and push past comfort. The most uncomfortable runs are the ones I'll learn the most from, both mentally and physically. I'm not saying that every run, every time, needs to push limits because I know the relaxing runs are important. It's balance of all of them. But this run, was my uncomfortable run; and it was good.

This whole comfort thing goes for everything. Life would be boring if everything were easy and comfortable. Push limits in every area. It makes everything more exciting. And truth is, everything will be all right. Pushing limits only makes you stronger.

Impressions

A few weeks ago The Janesville Gazette has printed a simple article about the Ragnar Relay Race from Madison to Chicago. Our team captain was interviewed and her photo was printed in the paper. She had mentioned her teammates, including me! I was pretty excited :) Anyway, That day I had to work at Woodman's. I was checking for the first half of my shift.

My 6th grade math teacher Mr. Mitchell came through my line. I see him a couple times a month, but never really said anything to him. I wasn't sure he even remembered me. Anyway, as he handed me his check he asked "Did I see your name in the paper? You're runnin' that race?" I  was completely shocked. First, that he recognized me, and second that he put the name to my face. After all those years, and all those students that he had taught, my name, and my face stood out to him. I'm not a teacher, but sometimes I have a hard time remembering people I had gone to school with. Heck, I can't even remember half of my teachers. Haha!

What kind of impression had I made on this person that he remembered me after so many years? Then I really got to thinking....

Here are the definitions of impression:

im·pres·sion   /ɪmˈprɛʃən/ Show Spelled[im-presh-uhn] Show IPA

noun

1. a strong effect produced on the intellect, feelings, conscience, etc.

2. the first and immediate effect of an experience or perception upon the mind; sensation.

3. the effect produced by an agency or influence.

4. a notion, remembrance, belief, etc., often of a vague or indistinct nature: He had a general impression of lights, voices, and the clinking of silver.

5. a mark, indentation, figure, etc., produced by pressure.

When I think of the word impression I usually think of first impressions. The first time I meet with someone. Almost like judging them, but it's more their vibes. How they seem to be.

Now I see it differently. An impression is the way you affect someone and their life. The way you affect how someone feels, thinks, acts. A mark.... on the heart.

Usually I don't get sappy like this but I truly believe there are people in my life that have touched my heart. I never want to forget them, the way they make me think or feel, and the way they inspire me. I'm doing my best to keep the people that leave the greatest impressions around.

Life isn't like that though. It seems almost impossible to keep the people you want in your life for a long time. Life is demanding, life is busy, and these days you'd be lucky to keep a good friendship.

So, for my 6th grade Math teacher to remember my name and my face and put it together all at once is crazy to me. I keep thinking.... "What kind of impression did I make? Why does he remember ME?" We make impressions and we don't even realize how strong they are. We don't realize the affect we have on other people sometimes. I think it's because we are always in our own little world.... worrying about us and our own lives that we don't stop and look. We are in this together.... We'd be pretty bored by ourselves. Life isn't about the things you do for yourself, it's about relationships you build while doing what you love. Pay attention to the impressions you make, how you affect people, and how people affect you. Let them know they mean something to you.

Rock Cut Survivor Series 10k Full Race Report

Some of you may have already read my race description over on my dailymile.com account. I ran out of space there so it was a bit of a summary so I'll add some more detail here. I think it's important to sit and look back at races. It helps you figure out what worked, what didn't, what made you feel stronger, and things to never do again! It's always a learning experience, that's life and looking back helps you to learn from mistakes and improve.

I was very undecided on this race. I wasn't sure if I really COULD do it without hurting myself again. I've been going to physical therapy for a few weeks and things were finally starting to go well. I didn't want to mess up again and have to start all over! The entire week before this race I had very little to no pain. It's almost weird to me for my knees not to hurt going down stairs or kneeling down. It's very exciting.

My nerves were a mess the night before. I didn't sleep very well at all. I bet if I wore my heart rate monitor to bed it would have been through the roof from the anxiety I felt. That morning I had a hard time getting up and ready. All I wanted to do was lay around. I ate breakfast: Oatmeal with raisins and walnuts. It seems to be my "go to" meal before races. It sits in my stomach well during runs. However for this one, I think I ate too early and not enough.

I picked Adam up around 9:50am. I'm glad he came along, honestly he calmed my nerves a bit. We did a quick stop in beloit to drop Hailey off with my mother and we were off.

I still can't believe how nervous I was. This was my first official "trail race" and covered in snow. I guess I didn't know what to expect. I think those two things coupled with fear of re injuring my knee is what made me so nervous.

We got there about an hour early, which was good, we had plenty of time to get signed up and warmed up. Before the race, Adam and I did a couple laps around the parking lot. This really got me scared. I was tired, I felt like I was really pushing just to run around the lot. Right then, I knew it was going to be hard! I hadn't eaten enough, I felt like I didn't have energy! GREAT! I brought along a couple bananas and cookies (for after the race). After that warm up I decided I needed to at least eat a banana before.

So my nerves made me have to pee.... yes pee! twice within that hour of waiting. Adam told me it's better to get it out now, instead of having to do it on the trail. TRUE!

It seemed like we waited for a LONG time!

One thing I don't really like about races is the fact that beforehand everyone is sizing each other up. I overheard a couple people looking at  other people talking about their competition. I know it's a race, but I hate the fact that people might be looking at me saying the same thing. I guess I'm still getting over that part of it.

Even though we were early we got a bit distracted and ended up rushing to the starting line minutes before the start. Adam wanted to start up front and I followed. Not sure if that was a good idea. Starting out was scary. I'd imagine that's probably what an Ironman race is like times 20! It was difficult to find footing, people were sliding and trying not to fall. Falling at that point of the race would have been terrible. Especially being in the middle a group.

It was good to also see a group from ASR. People I had run with on easy Thursday runs were also running this race. My original plan was to stick with Gary. I've run along with him, he's a good pacer for me. I only stuck with him for the first mile though, I got passed by a new man I met named Chris. He stuck with me for a bit and we chatted a little, I couldn't talk much. He tried to warn me about weird spots on the trail. Even though I had just met him, it was good to have someone on the trail offering some support. At some point got passed by other familiar faces.

I had issues with my shoe and my yaktrax. My left one kept moving around, I had to stop and fix it 3 times! Then my shoe also came untied. Try tying your shoe in the snow! ha not fun and not easy! I pulled the wrong string and it knotted up on me. Yea, can't fix that with gloves so I pulled it tighter and looped the laces around in another knot so they wouldn't flap everywhere and tucked them into my shoe. People I had passed early in the race I ended up passing three times because I had to stop those three times! How annoying!

One girl that I had passed multiple times had fallen a lot when I was behind her, maybe 5 times. I don't think she had any spikes or trax on her shoes. She seemed like she was miserable, working hard, and not used to this. She looked like I felt (for most of it). :( The last time I went to pass her I she upped her pace a bit and tried to keep up. I wanted to turn to her and say "good job! Your doing great!" to give her some support but she backed off before I got the chance.

So I went into this race thinking, I'm not going to push myself like I always do! I'm just going to run it and enjoy it! That didn't happen like I had hoped. There were points during this race that I was thinking "Why am I doing this?" "I hate this!" "This is so hard!" I think the part that made it so difficult and frustrating was the snow. I hated not being able to find footing. I relaxed a little by mile 4 but by the last half mile it was hard again! This was a roller coaster... Another one of those runs that really pushes you just to take another step.

There was a slight hill at the very end of this race, I was beat. I got passed by two ladies that looked around my age. I was still pushing but I couldn't push anymore! Literally. Passing the finish line was a relief. Usually I sprint to the end during races. I couldn't do that this time. The finish line guided runners into this tent where they took race tags and pinned them to a board. Just as I entered the tent I felt as if I was going to throw up. I had a hard time holding that back. I was unbalanced, dizzy, losing my vision. I'd never felt this way before. I walked slowly, I probably looked drunk. I found Adam and a few other ASR people and I started to really feel dizzy. I had a very hard time keeping my balance, thankfully an ASR person helped me balance. He held me up for a few minutes.

Adam got done maybe 15-20 minutes before me and he was cold by the time I was done. We quick went to the truck to get our jackets. We only hung out for a few minutes before we decided to head home. It was a bit too cold to hang out in cold wet clothes.

This race was a learning experience in so many ways. I learned a lot about trail running, running in snow, and my own limits! It was hard, but worth every second of the struggle! I haven't decided if I like running trails in the snow. I think I need a few more experiences to actually make up my mind. Stay tuned for more!!

What to say?

So my biggest problem in keeping a blog is the fact that I never know what to say. Until something big happens. But big things don't happen to me every day. Most days are normal, low key, laid back kind of days. Some might think they are boring; heck some days I think they are boring but they make my life.

So I'm deciding to exercise my writing muscle. Maybe I really DO have something to say or maybe I'm bored and I'm trying to fill some time. Really though, there is so much I need to be doing now. Cleaning, laundry, more cleaning, even more cleaning, editing images, training, exercising, shoveling snow, taking Hailey to school, and more cleaning.... but all those things don't seem too important to me today. Today is a chill day. I guess those kind of days are good every once in a while, right? Let's just hope I don't do that too much. Or maybe I'll get lucky and find some motivation later before work.

So in trying to find something to blog about I decided to just blog about NOW. What is going on NOW? Well now, hmmmmm. I feel happy, independent (that's a long story), strong, healthy, and almost complete. I love the life that running has given me. I love the friends I've made and the strength I've built. Being a "runner" has made my life so much better. I HAVE to eat better, I HAVE to get rest, I HAVE to train and run harder or else running is no fun and painful. This hobby has made me healthy, happy, and strong. I LOVE IT.

You might have noticed that I put these little quotations around the word runner. I have hard time owning labels. Not sure why, but I hate to jump into something without earning a title. I didn't call myself a "photographer" for a long time either and I definitely didn't call myself a "runner" for a long time. In fact I still have a hard time calling myself a runner. I've only been running for a year. It's still new to me and I feel like that could easily change with an injury. I don't think I'll stop running just to stop running.... for a long time anyway. I don't think I'll lose interest or momentum either. Can you tell I have a hard time committing? These are just statements, but I can't fully commit to saying them. I'm a very neutral person, I go with the flow. I know that things change and I'd hate to say something and have it work out to be different. 

I've been having issues with my IT band/knee and I've been going to physical therapy to correct it. Maybe that's one reason I can't accept the "runner" label. I feel like this issue could stop me or hold me back. It's been an interesting journey so far. I'm learning and hopefully I'll be able to work this problem out. I've had problems with knee pain since I've upped my miles May of 2011.

The other day I went to physical therapy and the lady I was working with noticed almost instantly that my feet point inward..... my left more than my right. This could explain my left knee pain. She said my "alignment was off". Alignment? like a car? I suppose so. So pointing my feet inward puts pressure on my hip and knee. I've been sitting and WALKING this way my whole life! She had mentioned that if I worked on my "alignment" most of my knee pain would be taken care of; but wow, how do you change something you've done for most of your life? It's weird to think about walking and sitting now. So now I have stretches, exercises and walking to work on and think about. Hopefully all this will pay off :D

Well, that's enough of NOW, for NOW :D I feel like I blogged about nothing, but oh well. enjoy. Remember to count your blessings people! Don't dwell on negatives, instead, work on fixing things you don't like and enjoy what you do. We are all given limited time on earth so don't spend it in a negative place. Be positive, get out, do things, enjoy LIFE! This ride will be done before you know it.