SuperFreak!

Okay SuperFreak! thats just the name of the song i was listening to as i ran some of these hills. Welcome to my hill run yesterday! After taking these photos i realized theres really not much there to give them perspective so your just gonna have to trust me its a killer workout! Its three mile course 1 1/2 out and 1 1/2 back. This first picture is the beginning.

Its a twisty turny course where you really can't see for long stretches . I think that makes it go by faster. I felt really good on this run. My legs felt like pistons just pumping up these hills. Since its an out and back course you have to realize i had to run up any downhills you see on the way back!

It was about 80degrees , not a breath of air. Which actually was a nice change from the windy conditions i've been fighting of late. I saw precious little wildlife which is unusual at the State Park. I had a red-tail hawk soaring and diving up above and i startled some quail, actually they startled me! Other than that it was peaceful, listening to my tunes.

'SuperFreak', 'Into the Night', 'Danger Zone', 'Bleedin' Love', 'Pocketful of Sunshine', 'Circus', 'Low', 'Sussudio', are just a few that helped me pass the time. If you think you see cactus in any of these photos you probably do. Its everywhere.

This is a house i always marvel at when i run here. It has a grass roof. It obviously not maintained well and i don't even know if its habitable but i think its a very neat idea and would keep a house pretty cool in the summer.

Ahhh the final hill before the turn around. Theres actually a little more hill up around the corner then i drape myself around the stop stopsign, catch my breath and do it all again. I manage to get to the stop sign without stopping but on the way back i have to walk a few times.

I've read a few blogs lately that have me thinking about goals.....not necessarily weightloss goal but life goals......What are mine?? After some thought i wanted just to simplify them. And what it all boils down to is something i've mentioned on here before. I don't want to be afraid to live my life, put myself out there. Not to be afraid of failure or judgement. Just be me. With all my quirks, shortcomings and find love and acceptance. And if i don't find those things to be happy and satisfied anyway because i'm being me not who i think everyone wants me to be........To embrace my uniqueness.

Thoughts.....

Diet Cherry Coke anyone? Took this right after my windy dam run Wednesday. 4 miles . Two with the wind and two against UUuugghh! Going for a meandering 5k this afternoon down along the river. Forecast 63 degrees, light wind. Yeah baby.

I'm writing this just before getting ready for work. I still need to pack my running bag as i will be changing at work again. You know funny things cross your mind 4 am in the morning sometimes........I sat here with some oatmeal and my cup of coffee and i started thinking about how i was glad i lost the weight for no one else but me. That that is why it worked. For so long i wanted to lose the weight for my husband........he deserved a thin beautiful wife or my daughter......she deserved a mother who could keep up with her with ease and not embarrass her at school functions, a mother who was comfortable in social settings and meeting her friends and so on and on...... I always wanted see just a tad bit of jealousy from my husband........And i always thought i could get that reaction if i was thin and beautiful. Anybody else felt that way?? Well i was sitting here thinking 'I'm so glad i didn't lose the weight for the reason' Cause i would have been terribly disappointed and probably put all the weight back on. He's just not that type of person. He doesn't have a jealous bone in his body. Now me .........i have a jealous nature. I do what i can to protect what is mine. .........Such ramblings so early in the morning but thats where my mind went. It just reinforced my belief that you have to lose the weight for yourself. Love yourself. You are worth it! I think we all have an idea in our heads of who we want to be. The type of person we want to be. Only you can make it happen. Your good health is a gift to yourself and the happiness it brings spills over to your loved ones.

Old Friends........

Do you find digging out your winter running gear like getting reacquainted with old friends??? I do. Unfortunately i still can't find the right weather to wear my new head/ear band. I keep trying to wear it in the 50's but a mile down the road i'm sweating and i have to pull it off.

Had sirens pass me while running. When you see a firetruck heading in your homes general direction to find yourself trying to remember if you turned everything off?? :) I did because eventually not one but three fire trucks and several first responder people in pick ups with lights going and sirens passed me and soon i saw smoke and even flames. Found out on the news someones space heater caught on fire. They weren't home though. Why in the world would you leave a space heater going if you weren't there to watch it??

Today is going to be a 80 degree run with 15 - 20mph winds with 30mph gusts. Fun, fun west Texas weather!

Put more paint to canvas.........this time i did a crackle finish to this area. For some reason i want this painting to be all about texture. Me and the crackle thing never seem to get along well but i'm fairly pleased with the results. Gonna apply an antiquing finish to it to bring out the crackle more. Then its on to the copper section and sand. .......

Just Don't............

Unless you really ,really want to know....don't pull out the measuring cup...........just don't...... ***sigh*** On the right is my usual bowl of cereal. Now i knew is was eating more than one serving so i always doubled the calorie count for the bowl thinking i had myself covered. Yeah....right......The bowl on the left is what one serving (3/4 cup) looks like.....So, needless to say i have cut back this pass week on the amount of cereal i serve myself. And is my tummy ever complaining. :) By lunch you better get outa my way! Last couple of days i've started bringing a banana to work and having it between breakfast and lunch and that has helped alot. I was just really surprised how small a 'serving' of cereal is. Geesh.....I was easily eating 4 times that amount! and i thought i was only doubling it......
Saturdays run went well. I changed into running clothes at work for the first time since spring now that its cool enough again to go right after work. That was fun.........lots of questions about running and my new shoes from fellow employees and a few listened to my running music on my ipod as i was putting my shoes on, even a customer on my way out the front door stopped me and asked me where i got my knee brace from and does it stay up well or do i have to keep pulling it up. And it hit me as i was leaving the building you know what? I must look like a runner! Me! A runner.......I'am who i set out to become.... Saturday i went out to the south entrance of the state park, still no trails yet as i worry about snakes........ but the paved road there does not have a 'bowed' road its flat, straight across and thats good for my hip plus its got some killer hills. I can run either three miles or close to five. Since i haven't done much hills since spring i did the three miler. The hills kicked my booty but over all i think i did well. I just love hills.......that is the weirdest thing. When i was at my heaviest and trying to walk i HATED hills, walking with my daughter or hubby i often whined to them to pull me up. Now, i see a hill as a challenge. If i have to stop in the middle then the hill won and DO NOT LIKE THAT! LOL! I love the feeling of strength in my legs powering me up that hill.

Laying in bed this morning...........rising late as its my day off...........i tightened my leg muscles and ran my hands over them. Dam! I got muscles! Flabby tummy, rock hard legs! Ughh......but i'm very proud of those legs. :)

Todays run may be a challenge as weather has rolled in..... Its 49 degrees out with a high of only 54 and windy and its been misty rain all morning. The rain should pass and the wind 'may' die down later........so i'm debating my options....the wind sure is whipping out there. Its been windy all week but now the cold has come in. It may just be the day to pull out the under armor and head band for my ears , put my shoulder into the wind and knock it out. Gonna let my late breakfast settle a little bit then head out the door i think. Neither rain, nor sleet nor hail or snow will stop.........wait thats the mail man's motto! Me? I will do cold, i will do rain but i will NOT do cold and rain together. So as long as the rain stops i'm out the door. Have an awesome day everyone. And remember don't pull out that measuring cup unless you REALLY want to know.

New Shoes!

Aren't they pretty! I've been wearing Asics Gel Equation 2's for what? Close to 2 years. I've gone thru several pairs but i just LOVE them. But when i went for new shoes this time i tried on many to compare them to my gel equations......I tried Gel Equation 3 and 4 and some others i can't remember the name. Gel Equation 3 was comparable to the 2's but the 4's were a pale comparison to me. They were all around $50 which is what i'm usually willing to spend. Then hubs hands me another Asics, this pretty hot pink one, slipping my foot inside it hugged my foot like a glove......a good sign as i like that. Then i walked in it. It was like walking on a cloud and i KNEW this was the one i wanted with me while i logged all those running miles. Then i looked at the price......... $114.00! I've never had such an expensive pair of shoes. But these shoes were so good that i was willing to pay more than double what i normally pay if that gives you some idea just how wonderful they are. They are called Asics Gel Nimbus. I took them for a 4 mile run this past Sunday and it was wonderful. I've since been on a weeks hiatus from running. I've been doing that for the past year or so. I take one in the spring, summer, fall and winter. If and when i feel i need it. If i don't feel the need i don't take it. But i've been feeling really rundown lately and tired. Sadly my week off has not seemed to help me much as i still feel really tired. I just need to get more sleep but thats been hard to come by lately.
The downturn in the economy has finally seemed to reach our little town. We seemed to be impervious at first. But probably since June things at my store has really slowed down. At our morning meetings they keep talking about how some of the other stores in town are cutting hours and laying off 'But our store will not do that!" I'd rather they not mention it at all. It just makes us nervous. My husband is the major breadwinner and mine a pale comparison but it would still hurt us to lose my job. Alot of comfortable extras we enjoy would have to say bye bye. Our medical insurance comes from hubby which is good. He works for the government at an air base so that feels a little more comfortable.
Daughter will be coming home soon. I can hardly believe it has been a year and half since i've wrapped my arms around her. My baby girl. She's so excited about coming home too. We get to run together! She really hasn't been running much since highschool but i tell her we'll run a little walk a little just enjoy ourselves. I hope it will spur her to continue when she goes home. Home.....still funny that my home is not her home...... I can still remember her telling me when she was running in highschool and she did a local 5k and would see people out there of all ages running and she would see an elderly man running and say 'see, thats gonna be me.....i'm gonna be a runner for the rest of my life. She's fallen away from that and i hope she can find that desire again. I love her so much. I just want her to be happy and healthy and confident enough to let that wonderful person she is shine through.
Better go. I've had another revelation this week that i want to share but i want to take some pics first so stay tuned.

Putting Paint to Canvas

I have to admit i had to look up the word canvas.........couldn't decide if it was one or two 's' .........gettin' old......:) Well I've been putting paint to canvas lately. Took me several tries to be happy with the leaf. Not thrilled with it but happy. The fuzzy stuff around the edges will disappear in another step. Beautiful thing about painting.....if you don't like it you can paint over it. LOL! I used a new medium to get the pic to this point. Its called masking. I have the little creature on the leaf but when i tried to paint the leaf around the creature it looked like i was doing just that no matter how careful i was so i painted this clear masking liquid on the creature after reading the instructions telling me it will just rub off when ready..........please, please rub off. Then i proceeded to paint the leaf without having to alter my brush strokes, waited for it to dry thoroughly and tried to rub it off. Worked like a charm. Wahooo! I will definitely use this technique in the future. And there just may be future paintings as i'am enjoying the process very much.

Did my speed work on Tues. It went really well i think. Worked up a good sweat. Got lots of waves and smiles from passersby. Today is just a normal 3.5 run. Thinking of heading out to the state park. Not the trail yet as the temp yesterday was 92 I'm sure all the creepy , crawly snakes are still out. But the road out there is nice........no cars. Read the article in Runner's World about the woman that got hit by a car while running. Scary ........it could happen so fast. Some people give me a wide berth, others barely move over as if i wasn't there and then some actually drift toward me. I give those my 'evil stare' :) The ones that drift toward me i think are looking at me and i think they just naturally drift toward what they are looking at.

My eating has really gotten out of whack lately. Really gonna work this week getting it back under control. Not helping me to getting this 10 pounds back off i put on over the summer. Your not suppose to gain over the summer! With all the fresh fruit and stuff available it should be prime losing season . **sigh** Lets at least hope winter with all its 'comfort' food doesn't derail me. I WANT those ten pounds back OFF! I feel so heavy and sluggish. I can feel all ten pounds right around my middle.

Well i better go get ready for work! UUUgh.......at least it will be cooler today. The high is like 76. Love me some fall weather.

Dam Run!

Aahhhh the weekend off with hubby! How i treasure these. To lay in bed till 8 or 9am all snuggled up.......When you only get one weekend a month together it becomes special.

I celebrated Friday afternoon after work with a 6.5 mile run on the dam. Beautiful fall weather. Cloudy about 58 degrees when i left the house, light breeze. Had to decide how to dress. Decided to wear my light running pants and light long sleeve shirt . Felt good till about half way thru when the sky started clearing and it warmed up a little but still not too uncomfortable at the end. Timed it just right and hubby picked me up on the other side right after work. Chose not to wear my knee brace. Mistake. Right knee is killing me last nite and this morning. Took some ibuprofen. Him right hip, right knee....maybe some bio mechanic problem going on here. The knee is usually fine unless i'm stressing it out. My normal 3.5 mile run does not bother it but if i do hills or trail running and apparently pushing myself to do 6.5 miles if i wear the brace i do fine. And its just a store bought brace with Velcro that wraps around. But it does the trick. I could kick myself in the booty for not wearing it yesterday. Funny think it hurts when i pick my leg up not when i put my weight on it. Anywho.........

I never do this and i mean to sometimes i never comment on anyone's comments!
Lori! I looked at Fage in the grocery store this week.......girl 250 cal compared to my 100 cal Brown Cow.......hmmmmm let me think....... LOL! I'll bet the Fage is delish though and may treat myself to it sometime. I completely understand your philosophy on food. And i agree with you on a lot of it. But neither do i exercise enough to indulge in that way. And i really don't see myself devoting much more time to exercise than i do already. Your awesome lady! I'm always in awe of you and all you do.

Roxie........I had an encounter at the grocery store the other day that was completely out of character for me ........thought i'd tell you about it. I was sitting down having a diet soda and something to eat and leafing through a magazine at their little deli seating area there. All the table were full and i was at a pretty big table when this older man ( 60's-70's) maybe came up from behind me and asked if he could share the table. I said 'Sure!' thinking to myself 'oh God is he gonna wanna talk', . But he had a cup of coffee and his own handful of magazines so were partners in crime looking through unpaid for magazines. After a while of sitting there quietly it was time for me to leave and for whatever reason i started wracking my brain on how to end this encounter on an up note instead of just getting up and walking away. So after throwing my trash away I took a deep breath, stuck out my hand to shake his and said ' Thank you so much for your company!" Well his face just brightened and he returned my handshake and asked me about the 5k shirt i was wearing and that led to a short conversation on that and i walked away feeling pretty darn good about myself. :)

Carol.........I already commented to you alot on what you commented so i won't repeat. I bought some storage boxes to put those paint chips in when i get around to separating them by color. !!!! I'm alot more accepting of myself since turning 40 and taking this journey. Many times where i would have fret about what people thought of me i manage to just think this is me take it or leave it. And that really is a new mentality for me. Its a very empowering feeling. I have my little quirks that are uniquely me and instead of hiding them i'm trying to embrace them! I'm a work in progress!

Well i gotta go! Hubby and i are headed to a company picnic and i still have to get dressed. I'm sure i'll have to face down many, many desserts. I may just wear my Lance Armstrong yellow bracelet for a reminder to behave myself. :P Really though i'm not worried at all. I 've already made up my mind not to indulge here and i know i won't. It only gets a little difficult when people start pressuring you to try their food. But i'm getting pretty darn good at telling them "No Thank you" Its getting close to 'that time of the month' so the only chink in my armor is chocolate but as long as there are no 'fire breathing double chocolate anything' there i'll be okay! Catch ya'll later. JInx!