Checking in - From Sunny South Carolina

Morning yall!

I was hoping my first blog on vaca would be about my mud run, but alas that is not the case.  Sorry to disappoint.  If you're friends of mine on facebook then you've already seen the photos, so all you're missing out on is my witty captions between them.

I figure you're not missing much so I post at my leisure.



Today starts a new challenge over at the Sisterhood.  I'm pretty sure its too late to sign up - its all complex with official weigh in submissions and teams and stuff.  The challenge for me?  Not participating.  You see I'm at a place where I need to focus on liking me.  And I can't do that if I weigh myself every week and get disgusted at my lack of progress.

Sure I've gained some weight this summer, but I wasn't happy with myself all the way down at 122, which tells me I gots to fix my head before I can even think about shedding these extra pounds.  (Last check I was back up to 131.)

My goals for now are finding the positives of my body and getting across that Anchor Splash finish line.  Which is in less than two weeks BTW.  Any suggestions, recommendations, checklists for seeing this thing through would be appreciated.

Okay so on to the check in.  I ran once and swam once on vacation.  According to Christie O's standards that officially makes me an athlete - exercising on vacation and not just because you feel like you have to, because I wanted to.

The other part - loving my body.

*Big sigh*

A few months ago The Sisterhood of the Shrinking Jeans did a swimsuit giveaway courtesy of Lands End.  Never one to back down from an opportunity to get something free, I entered.  As many times as possible.  And I won.

Totally cool right?  Yeah until I came time to order.  Apparently the sizing at Lands End isn't compatible with the President of the Itty Bitty Titty Committee.  Their smallest size was still too big for my girls. 

Via Twitter, the Shrinking Jeans ladies recommended I use the live chat feature to speak with a Lands End rep about my issues.  Wouldn't ya know it but my rep was a man.

Me: Hi, I've got the smallest girls in the world, what can you do for me?
Lands End dude: We're clothing makers, not miracle workers.

Okay so that's not how it went.  He was helpful and recommended their Canvas line, which is geared more toward teens.  But the Shrinking Jeans ladies weren't sure those were included in the giveaway, so I picked 3 suits that had tie backs (the only 3 they offer under their regular line).

And all of those were out of stock.

But once again the reps were incredibly helpful (and never mocked me - to my face at least) and went ahead and sent a suit from the Canvas line - very similar to one I picked out on my own.

*Big gulp* so here I am - in all my bikini glory.  I must say that my husband is a bigger fan of the suit than I am, but hey if he approves of me showing this much skin who am I to argue.  I ask if he just wanted to share in on Facebook as a taunt.

*Said in best Borat voice* "You'll never get this!"

Of course we spent the rest of the day speaking like Borat.  I love my husband - I never have to worry about looking goofy in front of him.  He thought I was hot at the mud run, he thought I was hot on the beach in my new suit.  Okay so maybe not so hot speaking like Borat but definitely amusing and lovable.

So there you have it ladies - my own personal "Survivor" style challenge.  Posting a picture of myself in a bathing suit, instead of weeping when I see it.

Hopefully yall are having an excellent week.  Check back tomorrow - I hope to have my mud run post up by then.

Gifts of the Body Part 2

Now before you go looking for part 1, there isn't one.  At least on my blog any way.  I stumbled upon Faith, Fitness, Fun yesterday afternoon.  I was excited to read her 30 Days of Self love challenge and even more thrilled to see that she is a Christian. 

While faith in Jesus Christ isn't a requirement for the challenge (it doesn't even factor in if you don't want it to) it gave me the assurance that we wouldn't be getting into any self worship. Without Christ I am nothing.  Part of my self esteem issues come from leaving Him out of my life and trying to do things my own way.  My own way = superficial + shallow.

During this challenge she's encouraging us to...well I'll just let her tell you.

We need to shift the qualities with which we define them from aesthetic ones to purposeful ones. Hopefully, after completing 4 rounds of this exercise and having to come up with 12 different parts of ourselves we recognize as a gift, we will grow to love our bodies more and more.

I'm going to give it a try.  I'm not going to be able to get all the rounds in.  Or maybe I'll just spill over into October.

Here goes.

1) My hands/fingers.

I love to read.  Nothing says comfort to my brain like the pages of a warn out old paperback in my hands.  Or the soft leather of my NIV Study Bible, as I turn the thin pages with my fingers.  I need my fingers and hands for all the list making I do.  As well as my blogging.

Not to mention is the perfect perch for my ultimate bling:

If you're new to my blog, please know that the day I said "I do" I got another ring to stack behind that one - complete with 10 more small diamonds.  My husband use to be a Larry Byrd fan and was redneck sweet enough to want me to have 33 diamonds - Byrds jersey number.

2) My arms

These arms are made for hugging.  I'm not sure who gives better hugs, my niece or husband.  Nothing makes me feel more loved then when they wrap their arms around me.  The picture above is a tame hug on her part.  I'd just ran 13.1 miles in 2 hours and 44 minutes.  I was exhausted and wouldn't have been able to hold her had she jumped in my arms like she normally does.

3) My Feet

These feet have carried me lots of miles.  Of course the 13.1 mentioned above.  Plus a 26.2 mile walk.  And countless hikes in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Sure my grandmother sees my long, skinny feat and sees nothing but problems.  I've inherited her feet and she just recently had to undergo foot surgery.  She swears its that they are too skinny to handle all the pressure of carrying her body.   I doubt that's a doctor's diagnosis.  All I can say for sure is that for the past 30 years these feet have served me well.  I pray that they'll continue to do so for the next 50-60 year

4) My Lips

I think from the picture its obvious, I'm a lady who knows how to take charge.  It was I that took the lead and kissed him when he was too shy.  (3 dates ladies - I had to wait until the end of date 3.  And who knows how long it would have taken had I left it up to him!)

I've come to realize in the past few months that my spirtual gift is encouragement.  Sometimes it comes in the forms of the words I say.  Other times its the words I type to my efriends.  (See #1)

I hope you take a moment to reflect on yourself - think about how well your body has served you all these years.  Rejoce!  Try to love the woman in the mirror just a little more each day.

"Hi pot, its the kettle here."

Trust me, I'm working on it!

Wednesday Already??

Let's forget the scale shall we? 

I didn't this morning, but I wish I had.  So rather than chase you away bore you with all my whiny details how about we just skip ahead to the good parts?

I had a kick ass run last night.  The original plan was to meet up with the area's run group (who's first meeting since before summer was last night) but when the temps hit the 90s I decide to hit the treadmill.  I started at a 5.5 MPH speed, telling myself that I could take a walk break at the end of a mile if I needed one.

Only I didn't.

In fact I was feeling so good, I bumped the speed up 0.1 MPH.  Then after a quarter mile, I bumped it up again.  And again.  I upped my speed every quarter mile until I got to 6.1.  The half mile of 6.0 and 6.1 I was really starting to feel it.  At that point I'd already banked 2 miles, so those speeds were during my last mile of running.

At 2.5 miles, I started to take it back down.  Every 0.15 I bumped it down.  Until I got to 5.8 MPH and saw that I was dangerously close to my 5K PR.  If I jacked the speed back up, maybe I could get close to that time (my current PR is 32:09). 

I ended the 3.1 miles with a bang - and my time was 32:30.  Considering I always run faster during a race than in training I have no doubt that were the race this weekend a standard 5K I would have a new PR.  With the military crawling through mud, the 4 foot wall, and the giant mud pit that I have to run through, I think its safe to say that this weekend will be my worst 5K time yet.

But also the most fun.

Jay's challenged me for my next run to set the speed on 5.8 and try to maintain that the entire 3 miles.  As easy as 5.5 came to me, I think there is a shot I might actually be able to do it.

Countdown update:

3 sleeps until the mud run
4 sleeps until the beach
18 sleeps until the triathlon

Weekend Fun

This is how my weekend started - sweaty but feeling great! 

The weather was overcast and looking like the rain was going to cut loose at any moment.  I decided to switch from a treadmill run to the great outdoors to enjoy a tranquil rain soaked run.

Only it didn't rain.  I dealt with the "just about to rain" humidity for 4.3 miles (50 minutes).  Not a bad pace for the heat, especially considering my first lap was done at a 10 minute mile pace!  I slowed considerably after that but I was thrilled just to maintained that pace for over a mile.

As with all good workouts, my blood sugar crashed when I wasn't able to eat within an hour of finishing my work out.  (Note to self: never, ever go to the grocery store after a run again.) With Pubsgal's help I got it back on track and finished my evening watching a movie with the mutant.

Saturday I met my mom & dad to go bike riding while Jay went to an auction.  "It'll go for a song." He promised.  I wanted to ask if he was pulling the song book out of his rear, but smiled sweetly and told him that I trusted him.

*Snicker*  You totally bought that right?  Okay so more accurately I heavily stressed how badly I did NOT want to spend any more of our savings on stoopid investment properties.

About 3 miles into the bike ride Jay called me to say that he hadn't bought anything.  He'd been the winning bidder on a lot, then someone came behind at the end and regrouped the lots - taking all of them.  Oh darn. 

When I reached mile 5 of the trail (and the turn around point) I decided that I'd meet back up with my parents and keep with their pace.  Two miles of backtracking and I finally found them - my mom was at the top of the hill trying to work up the courage to ride down. 

I'm not talking a molly-whopper here.  Just a modest little hill that could be ridden up without touching your gears.  The thing is she wrecks practically every time she gets on a bike, so naturally she's afraid.  And that fear causes her more accidents.

I stayed with them for another 4 miles but the slow pace was painful so once again I went ahead.  One of the houses on the main path was having a yard sale, so I stopped in and had a look around. My parents appeared on the path right about the time I was mounting back up.

Jay met up with us at the vehicles and my mom passed off her bike so she could rest while we got a few more miles in.  I wish I had pictures from Saturday, but Jay forgot his camera.  Bad mutant!!

Sunday we took my Papaw to Clingman's Dome. He's been on Mamaw watch ever since she had her foot surgery.  She's not comfortable getting around in her wheel chair, so for the most part they stay home all the time.  My Papaw was getting a little stir crazy so my mom relieved him for the afternoon and we took him to the mountains.

The weather cooled considerably this weekend, and being a 3 day holiday weekend the national park was crowded.  I'm not sure if I've ever seen it that busy.

The walk up to the dome is just a half mile, but the elevation change is so steep that there are benched every tenth of a mile for people to stop and rest at.  Its a paved path, so its one that people who wouldn't consider themselves hikers give a try.

The views from the top are spectacular.  There are photos at each section, showing which mountain ranges are in what direction.  Sunday was such a clear day, there were ranges in the distance that weren't even listed on those photos!

Of course my photobug husband wanted to take full advantage of this rare opportunity, so Papaw and I pulled up a rock on the way down to wait on Jay to take pictures.

I'm so glad that Jay and I got the privilege to spend the day with him.  I'm not sure very many 75 year olds would have been able to make the trek up.  I wanna be like him when I get old!!

Fitness Friday

I did it!!!

I finally signed up for my Triathlon!  The count down is on - 23 days until I officially become a triathlete!!

Okay so I know that's an obscene amount of exclamation points.  Sorry.  Not really, but still. 

I shared with you the lyrics of my theme song for the race, and I came across my Bible verse for the event this afternoon while I was registering.  Lucy has been collecting Bible verses for her to meditate on while she's giving birth to her beautiful little monkey.  Okay I totally get that childbirth can't compare to a silly little race, but still.  God encourages sharing so I borrowed the following verse:

2 Timothy: 1:7

For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and love and sound judgement.

I've got my song, my verse, and my race registration fee charged to my credit card.

I'm really doing this.

So why is it I feel like I need to throw up??

PS - If anyone else has any ideas, I'm still on the look out for theme songs/verses for my half in November and the Disney marathon in January.  I was thinking that Saturday night (or Sunday morning if we couldn't sleep) I would love for some of us to get together for a pre-race Bible study. 

I was just thinking on my swim this morning how far God has brought me.  I built strength during the last round of training, but I lost focus and became too caught up in myself.  I thought that it was by my strength and dedication that I was able to race. 

You know the often quoted verse "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength"?  Yeah I was leaving off that part.  Took my hiatus to see that.

PPS - I got an exciting package in the mail yesterday!!!!!

A letter and book from Karena!! :)  I've got a couple of books that I need to read and get back to the library, then I'm going to dive in.

Happy Friday all!

A Fun Discovery

Even the most organized amongst us have junk drawers.  Or at least I do. 

Sadly, I have one even at work.  I was looking through it the other day and found 2 floppy disks from college.  Just so you know, when I was in college floppies were no longer actually floppy.

I'm not sure why I was keeping them, but I went poking through them this morning and found some interesting stuff - enough to keep me in blog posts for a while.

In my creative writing class we had to write poetry as well as short stories.  I have no clue what I was thinking when I wrote this one, but I'll explain the assignment at the end.


She violently rips away his disguise.
He wears a callous skin,
trying to conceal his tenderness,
yet she tears through.


Piece by piece
she mutilates his dream.


His tears flow freely
as she severs him into fragments.


Only seeds remain,
Cast away by his assassin.

Our assignment was to write a poem about an orange.  Yep, a piece of fruit.  Go re-read.  I'll wait.
 
File this one under "what the beep was i thinking?"

Down & Dirty in Thirty W:5

I'm checking in this morning at a higher weight than I started the challenge.  Nothing dramatic, and certainly nothing unexpected.  This is the week that I gain weight.  It happens.  For my team I'm sorry.  For myself I have to be okay with it.



Scratch that.  I am okay with it. 

I'm having a cup of apple cider this morning.  I'm enjoying it guilt free. Sure its 80 calories that wouldn't be in a cup of coffee, but while the coffee actually inhibits iron absorption, this cider has vitamin C which helps your body absorb iron better.

So me, my cup of cider, and my cinnamon & raisin bagel are all good this morning.  After all I'm on a quest for better health, not smaller thighs. (Okay I'm still on a quest for smaller thighs but I'm not going to put my racing career in jeopardy for them!!)

This weeks Mean Girl cleanse won't be easy for me - its giving up comparison.  I'm the queen of comparison.  Well at least the kind that shines a bad light on me and a good light on someone else. 

In monetary terms I realize that wealth isn't a pie chart.  In order to grow my assets, I don't have to take yours.  Why do I have a hard time grasping that I can be slender and attractive while you are skinny and pretty?  Your beauty/size has no bearing on mine. 

Last week I didn't realize that there was a Facebook page for the challenge, so I wasn't as involved as I could have been.  I've since found the page and promise to be more active!

On to the Drop Dead Gorgeous Challenge!

1. A photo of yourself with a self-motivational note.


 I cannot allow fear to steal my dreams

Jamee posted a song last week that really spoke to me.  The song was Unbreakable by Fireflight and one line in particular grabbed me.  Fear is just a crutch that turns your dreams into dust. By not allowing myself to dive into my training plan, I was allowing my fear of anemia take my triathlon dreams away.  That's not going to happen.  Not on Super Boo's watch!



2. Posting your weight is completely optional.

I'm up a little, I think since the D&D challenge is over I'm going to switch to a monthly weigh in.  Since I'm not actively counting calories I think the lack of change each week on the scale will just drive me nuts.

3. At least one but no more than five long-term goals.

Finish my mud run strong - its in 10 days!!! My first race back!!!  No time predictions - only I'm fairly certain that all my clothing will head straight for the dump afterward.

4. One brag for the week.

Completed my 1st brick workout of this training series. Bike/run combo. Had to cut back to 20 minutes each discipline (typically 30 min ea) due to time constraints but i got it in.

5. One thing to improve upon for next week.

Smarter food choices, less treating myself
 
 
So that's me for the week.  Hopefully you finished the challenge well!  Head on over to the Sisterhood and tell us all about it!