excuses ...

I love my schedule. I follow it to a T. It's my Type-A personality. It pushes me to strive to be perfect all the time. But, don't tell anyone, I'm not. (I am pretty good at faking though.) At times, things go wrong. Plans go astray. Life gets bumpy. Or I get lazy. Like when I didn't run my scheduled 20 miler on Saturday.

The following is a list of what may or may not be excuses as to why I did not run:

1. I ran an a**-kicking five mile tempo run on Thursday (8:21 pace, if you were wondering.) I followed that run by the most sucktastic five miler on Friday. I barely survived. It was horrible. And I finished that run less than 10 hours before my scheduled 20 miler. At that point, I just wasn't feeling it.

2. I have been nursing a sore throat and some nasal congestion since Thursday. It's not getting any worse, but it's not really getting any better either. An extra day of rest was only going to help, right?

3. The temperature on Saturday morning at 6 a.m. was 70. The temperature today at 6 a.m. was 54. Enough said.

4. My iPod was non-functional. Apparently, if you NEVER remove your iPod from the armband and NEVER remove the earbuds from the iPod, your sweat will start to corrode the device. The metal was eaten away on the top (near the bezel) and the plug for the earbuds was permanently welded by calcified sweat into the plug. Not a problem until you attempt to remove it, at which point, the cord will rip off and the plug will remain. Fan-freaking-tastic. $200 later, I now have a working iPod (and will religiously be removing it from the armband after my runs).


5. Sleeping in (even if it was only until 7:45) sounded far more appealing than hitting the pavement for 3+ hours.


6. I wanted to wear my capris on Saturday. And they don't really go with my recovery socks.

7. I didn't REALLY want to run 68 miles in a seven day period (Sunday-Saturday). I much preferred the thought of only logging 50 miles in seven days (Monday-Sunday).

8. J made me.

P.S. - Those excuses were short lived. I am headed out the door right now ...

my top 10 reasons why I hate traveling ...

OK, let me rephrase that. I love traveling. When I am doing it alone. Or with J. But with kids? Well, that's just a little less fun. So, here is my list of the top 10 reason I hate traveling with the kids ...

10. All the gear - When J and I went places before we had kids, we packed a bag. A very small bag. But now, we pack up half of our house for a three-day weekend. And even when we think that there isn't that much to bring, we still end up forgetting something ...

9. All the toys, or lack thereof - Kids like toys. I like toys. They keep my kids occupied when I need to get things done. But when we travel we never have enough toys. Or the right toys. Or we come home with new toys ...

8. The limited wardrobe - Kids are messy. Even my three girly girl princesses (who have an affinity for getting dressed up and playing in the mud). And when you are traveling and only have a few outfits with you, your kids either end up very messy looking or you are stressing out about where you can do laundry. Or you end up buying more clothes ...

7. Poor food choices - At my house, my kids eat what I say, when I say. But when traveling, it's every man for himself. We definitely don't eat a balanced diet and sometimes eating something (even if it's goldfish) is better than eating nothing at all ...

6. Sleeping arrangements - I LOVE my bed. My kids LOVE their beds. When we travel, we don't have our beds. And Dilly has to sleep in a Pack and Play, which is code for a wood plank with a 1/4 inch cushion on it. No one sleeps well. This makes for an unhappy mother ...

5. The excess whining - The lack of good sleep leads to an increase in poor behavior. Mainly whining and screaming. And in case you forgot, my kids are already beyond loud ...

4. No schedules - I am a creature of habit. I like structure and I rarely deviate from it (and my kids have come to expect it). Except when we travel. I try my best to keep everything as close to normal as possible, but it's nearly impossible to do. And it drives me crazy ...

3. My workouts are erratic - Traveling makes working out hard. Especially, if you have to work around someone else schedule. Or don't have child care. Or it's 1000 degrees out ...

2. Traffic - Getting stuck in traffic is hellish to begin with, but add three unhappy/bored/tired children to the mix and we are all lucky that I don't just drive off the road ...

and the number one reason, I hate traveling with kids is ...

1. PUBLIC RESTROOMS - Enough said ...

8 miles of mental game ...

If you been around here for a while, you know that I hate getting up early to workout. I much prefer my 9:30 a.m. runs. Or evening runs. Pre-P90X, I often had a sunset date with my treadmill. But over the past two months, I have made a real effort to wake up before sunrise to get my mid-week miles in (at least a few days a week). It hasn't been easy, but I have had friends who were willing to share in my misery.


On Mondays, I meet up with KT for 3-4 miles at 6:15 a.m. and on Tuesdays or Wednesdays, G (and whoever else we can trick into meeting us) run 8 miles at a time that starts with a 5 (otherwise known as WAY.TO.EARLY). This is our group from Tuesday. G and A (in the middle) are training for the same November race right now, and, well, M and I are not ...


And, although I DREAD getting out of bed, I have actually grown to like these runs. It's nice to feel so accomplished at a time that most people are still snuggling in bed. With all that positivity in my head, I attempted something I never have this morning. I set out for a SOLO early morning run. (See? Me, pre-run with no friends)


8 miles as the sun was rising. Just me and my Garmin. And let me tell you. It was TOUGH.


It was hard to get out of bed. It was hard to lift my feet. It was hard to motivate myself to go. I had to will myself to keep moving the entire time. My pace was slower than usual. I couldn't find my groove. Maybe it was because I am kind of freaked out about running alone when no one else is up. Maybe it was because I was constantly looking over my shoulder to make sure I was alone. Maybe it was because my children have been so mentally draining the past few days. Maybe it was because I didn't eat breakfast before I left. Maybe. Maybe. Maybe.


I'm not really sure what was up. I just kept telling myself that I would be happy that I kept going. That I was training myself for the tougher runs that lie ahead. That I would be proud that I stuck it out when I wanted to quit. And I was.

three things thursday ...

There are just 10 days until the Disney Princess Half Marathon!! Taper is in full swing. I have one more four miler and four more three milers before the race. And we leave on Tuesday night. I.CAN.NOT.WAIT!!

And the three things for today are ...

1. DILLY IS WALKING!! Holy cow! This means I now have three children who can all run off in different directions upon arrival. Fantastic! I am so never going anywhere ever again. (Note: I will still be going to Disney. We will have a third adult on our trip. There will be no zone coverage going on here. It's all man on man.)

2. My new king bed is GLORIOUS! Best night of sleep I have had in a long time. I actually woke up refreshed. I'm kind of wondering why J (who is 6'7 and built like a linebacker) and I suffered on a rock hard queen for the last 6 years ...

3. I am running with G in her comeback race on Sunday - the Huguenot 3 Miler. OK, I probably won't run "WITH" her since I don't have a 3 mile PR (and I'd like a fast one!). But I will stand with her at the start and cheer for her at the finish! And speaking of races, G and I are running the Marine Corps Crossroads 17.75K on June 12th. The race is in Manassas, VA. And we were thinking it would be the perfect opportunity for a bloggy meetup. So if you live in the DC area, or want to drive/fly/run in for the race, check out the link above and let me know if you are interested. We'd love to run with you!

Happy Thursday!