Wednesday Workout Update

Walking - who knew??  I kid, I kid - I just don't get the opportunity to walk for exercise very often...let's face it, if I'm outside and wearing running shoes, I'm pretty much running.  But on Monday, my son Sam and I went for a long walk - 4.25 miles to be exact.  It was nice - I began to feel like I was doing something after a couple of miles, and definitely felt that my leg muscles got a workout by the time we finished.  We did run a little bit - maybe a total of half a mile - because there were a few downhill areas that I just couldn't resist (my name is Shelley and I love to run downhill - is there a meeting for that?).  What is even more ironic about walking is that when I first started losing weight, and everyone recommended walking for exercise, I was resistant...it was too hot, I was too sweaty, it was not for me.  Oh how times have changed!

Random walk sighting:  Two ducks were ahead of us on the sidewalk - then one decided to step off the curb and cross the street...ack!  A car was coming - not super fast, but still, it might have been curtains for the duck had he kept going.  The car stopped in the middle of the street (we had already stopped, hoping to not scare the ducks from coming back onto the sidewalk), and the duck finally turned around and came back to the sidewalk - whew!

Yesterday Sam and I planned to go for a run early, before he had to work, but I woke up to both my alarm and lightening...and shortly after, the storm hit.  While I'm ok with running in (warm) rain, I don't want to be the dumbass you see in the news who was struck by lightening because she was out running in it.  So, I climbed stairs instead...yes, I did extra trips up and down deliberately.  These are steep stairs and my short legs are getting quite a workout - I bet if I lived here, they would look pretty nice better!

This morning we're going for our run - 4 miles is the plan.  No rain in the forecast, woohoo!  I'm looking forward to it.  And we'll probably run again tomorrow - why not, right?  I don't know if it's the change in venue, or the idea that running club is starting back up in 10 days, but I'm pretty excited about running again. Plus, I'm going to keep up with this whole "walking" thing, too...might as well keep moving, one way or another!

Crazy Times

It has been a wild ride lately - life has been abnormal, in a good way, for well over a month now.  And even though it's all been for happy reasons, there's been a crazy amount of celebrating going on - which, naturally, involves food (glorious food!).  Trying to keep a semblance of normalcy, when it comes to eating, has been a challenge.  There's been a lot of traveling, and visitors, and celebrations (graduation, birthday party, more random birthday events (hey, turning 50 takes a village), anniversary, Jeff's birthday) - it's been great fun but also kind of difficult to not go too far off the rails, especially since the crazy times just keep coming!

For example, we are coming off Burgerpalooza week - what, you didn't know that there is an official week dedicated to burgers?  OK, it might just be our own invention...but dang, what a week it was! I've been in north Texas since last Tuesday visiting our kids, and over the course of the week, we've had dinner at Smash Burger, Five Guys Burgers and Fries, Scotty P's, and Mooyah Burgers.  All restaurants that we don't have in our town, so it's a treat to get to try them (or revisit them, as with Scotty P's - still my favorite).  What can I say, this is Texas and we do love beef!  But, I'm ready for a week of salads; we've been to the grocery store and laid in some healthy food so that will happen.  Eating treat meals is fun, but eating normally, especially after so many treat meals, is actually fun, too.

Another part of this crazy time has been exercise - I've had good weeks, and then not-so-good weeks.  Like last week - I didn't get any runs in.  However, I did get a mega-ton of stair climbing in...my kids moved into a three-story townhouse and I think I've climbed these stairs about a gazillion times (no exaggeration, I swear!) as I helped them with unpacking and sorting everything that was haphazardly thrown together during the last minute panic of moving.  But again, I'll be glad to get back to some more regular exercise, and I'm starting that with a long walk this morning.

I'm lucky in that I can see an end to the craziness of the last month and a half; I know that sometimes life throws crazy at you and there's no foreseeable end in sight.  I've enjoyed everything, absolutely...but I will be glad to get back to my normal, albeit a little mundane, lifestyle...until the next round of craziness comes around.

Friday Mishmash

My running buddy Jenny is an amazing photographer and recently offered to do a photo shoot for me, and since my mom was going to be in town, I included her, too.  Naturally we had to go shopping for some coordinating clothes, and once we did that, we were set.  Jenny had us meet on the grounds of the George Bush Presidential Library...I have to say, in all the times I've been there, I had no idea the grounds behind the library were so pretty.  We had a great time - here's a few of the shots:

I like this one...

I really like this one...there were so many great shots that it's been hard to narrow them down to place an order!

Me at 50!

 A couple weeks after the session, I went over to Jenny's house to go over the pictures.  Her little dog, Chula, was making me laugh - she's a Jack Russell terrier and reminded me of Paco, especially with how attached she is to Jenny:

Chula nestles in the chair behind Jenny's back - there's just enough room for her!

...and she's out!  I loved that one set of eyelashes are white while the other are brown.  So cute!

The really amazing thing about Chula is that she can climb trees!  I'd love to bring Paco over and have him see this - I know he'd be all "wait...dogs can do THAT?!!" - his mind would be blown!

Chula REALLY gets into squirrel patrol!

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In knitting news, I finished a couple of projects recently!  First up is my Cabled Feather Cowl, made with Madelinetosh DK yarn in Baltic colorway.  I LOVE THIS YARN.  Love it.  It knit up beautifully, it felt fantastic in my hands, it never looked worn, even though I had to restart this project several times before I finally understood the pattern - I am a huge fan, which is why, knowing we were going to be in north Texas this week, I talked Jeff into going to their store.  More on that in a minute - here's the cowl, modeled by Paco:

Blue is my color.  I beautiful.  

Henry was on the bed watching Paco model and wanted in on the action:

Please leave here so I can throw up on it later.  Thank you for your cooperation.

I love this cowl and look forward to wearing it (and who knows, maybe even modeling it when it's not Texas hot) in about six months.

I also, finally, FINALLY, finished that mystery shawl.  The actual pattern is called Dinner in the Eiffel Tower.  This thing gave me fits throughout much of the process - I'm glad to be done!  While it was a good learning experience, especially because many other ladies were knitting it at the same time, so there was lots of helpful advice available, it was a hard one to knit.  Plus, at this point I'm not really into knitting shawls - some people love them and turn out gorgeous pieces, but it's just not my style right now.  Anyway, it's done, or I guess I should say "c'est fini" considering the title.  Pics:

Blocking it - note the straight edge at the bottom.  This was achieved by using a blocking wire.  I was going to also try and use the wires to block the curved edge, but it's rather challenging with fine-gauge yarn that is wet from washing.  So I gave up and just pinned the rest...have I mentioned I was kind of over this project at this point?

Trying to get a decent picture that shows the (hard-fought for) lacework...

Better shot?  Hard to tell.

I seeriously embarrassed to model dis, Mom.  NOT a little old lady, you know.

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I mentioned going to the Madelinetosh store.  It's in Ft. Worth and it's so awesome - not only did they carry a ton of their own brand, which I love, they also had a lot of other brands of yarn that were so, so pretty!  I ooohed and awwwed over everything before making my selections:

The pink (Carnation) is for a baby sweater - a good friend is having a girl in the fall.  The blue/purple/gray (Steam Age) is to make a hat for my Mom (a Mother's Day gift).  The pink/rose/gray  (Black Velvet) is to make a sweater - for me!  Now to narrow down my pattern choices, do a gauge swatch, and go for it!

Oh, and I couldn't resist this cute project bag:

Such bright and happy colors!  Love it.

Have a great weekend!

Wednesday Workout Update

I ran in double digit mileage last week for the first time in about a month!  It helped that I threw an extra day in there, what with National Running Day and all - plus, we didn't have a race on Saturday, so Jeff and I just went out and ran a loop, which ended up being nearly 4.5 miles!

I'm feeling really good about my running in general.  Mainly because I'M FIFTY (how long do you think I can milk this thing?  I'm thinking a loooong time, haha), and I can do what I want.  With FIFTY comes a lot of empowerment.  Who do I need to please?  Me.  Especially when it comes to something physical - let's face it, running is all on me.  And I've struggled with it for quite a while now.  I've tried many different ways to do it "right" - via intervals, a short walk break at each mile, walking the hills, slowing down, speeding up - all good, but nothing that has brought back the Shelley Runner of 2010.  And I realize that time moves on, people get older (ahem), and things aren't quite the same, but you know what?  I was a pretty decent runner back then, and I miss that feeling.  So what was different?

Well, much as I hate to say it, I mostly did my long runs alone.  I ran, I walked, I powered through - and I wasn't half bad at it.  Yes, I love my running buddies, but I've come to realize that no matter who I'm doing a long run with on Saturdays, I'm stressing about keeping up with their pace so much that I think I unintentionally slow myself down...trying to save myself so that I can make it through the entire run.  I've been tempted to buy a shirt that says "Running is mental, and we are all crazy" because, YES.  I am the poster child when it comes to letting my mind overrule my legs and lungs.  So I'm going to run solo once we start training...I'm sure there will be parts of the run (especially the shorter distances) where I'll be with other people, but first and foremost, I'm going to do my own thing and not worry about keeping up with anyone.

Besides, I don't do this for fun:

Bandages covering my injection sites; also please note the pity party pedicure that I treated myself to prior to that doctor's appointment.

I willingly let my orthopedist stick a needle into my right ankle and top of my left foot every few months, just so I can run with less pain.  So if I'm going to do this, I might as well have the best run possible, both mentally and physically, right?

That's my plan for the upcoming training season (it starts at the end of this month) - run, walk, whatever - just keep moving forward, stop stressing, and enjoy the run!

Speaking of enjoyment, here's a few pictures from my recent runs:

About 20 runners met up at 6:00 am last Wednesday to celebrate National Running Day.  Here's Julia and I with Dan, one of the owners of our local running store.

And here's Mike, the other owner - I about busted a gut laughing at his outfit.  It's all technical fabric, but seriously - doesn't he look like a man from the 1960s, wearing plaid Bermuda shorts, a white undershirt, black crew socks...and those shoes - oh man, those shoes.  He swears if I tried them on I'd see what the fuss is about, but seriously...those shoes are too crazy!  Any case, he was a good sport in letting me poke fun (and yes, this picture ended up on Facebook, where even MORE people got to witness his awesome ensemble)!

Finally, here's a shot of the beautiful sunrise that Jeff and I got to see on Saturday morning as we set off for our run:

Times like these makes waking up super early worth it!

And So This Is Fifty

I think the idea of what 50 is has changed over the years.  I remember, as a child, hearing about people turning 30 and lamenting the end of their youth.  Hitting 40 brought out the Geritol and canes as gag gifts, and by 50?  Well, I don't remember seeing much of a fanfare - maybe people just wanted to ignore hitting that milestone.  But that was then.  Nowdays, people are much younger when they hit 50.  Sure, that sounds like something Yogi Berra would say, but it's true!  And as for me, I don't feel any particular age, except for moments like these:

That would be a "half-century" card - yikes!  When you put it like that, fifty sounds kind of old!

Or when the news recently ran an Amber Alert for a missing elderly woman...I was picturing a stooped-over gray-haired old lady (with a cane, of course) - turns out this elderly person was 53 years old.  That's NOT elderly, dangnabbit!

As I approached my birthday, I got to thinking about everything I've wanted to do in life - not really a bucket list-type of thing, but just checking in with myself...was there anything that I still wanted, to do or to own, after all these years?  Well, yes - there was one thing that I've wanted ever since I was a kid - probably from the age of 12 or so...

A DRUM SET!!!

I have always wanted to learn how to play the drums.  ALWAYS.  The closest I ever got to it was owning a pair of drum sticks as a teenager, and then marrying a drummer.  But he didn't own a set of drums, so fat lot of good that did me!  However, I think it may have helped when I told him, over a year ago, what I wanted for my 50th birthday...I'm sure Jeff figured that I would share my drum set if I got one, so he set about finding one for me.  And he succeeded, thanks to Craigslist (I didn't want him to spend too much on them, so used was perfectly fine with me).

That's right, I'm a DRUMMER, baby!

I have never had any music lessons, and I'm not particularly musically-inclined...but why should that stop me?  My goal song is to play the drums to Kansas' "Carry On Wayward Son" - and I will get there.  I'm having a blast playing with the drums right now - there's a lot of stuff on YouTube to help get me started, although I do plan on taking some lessons soon.

Check out the hula girl drumsticks that Barbara and Theresa gave me - perfect for my Hawaii 5-0 themed birthday!  

I even personalized it a bit more with a hibiscus flower decal - it's actually hiding a burn mark on the bass drum, but hey - it's appropriate, don't you think?

So far there's only been one person who isn't a fan of the drum set:

This ting makes loud noize.  Please to stop, mom.

Poor Paco.  He wants to be with me, but the banging on the drums makes him nervous.  He spends the time I'm playing alternating between timidly coming down the hallway to check on me, and retreating to my walk-in closet on the other side of the house.  Hopefully he'll get used to this soon.

If I've learned anything over my 50 years here on earth, it's that it's never too late to start something - be it finally losing weight, or becoming a runner, or learning how to knit - so why not start playing the drums?  There's no expiration date on having fun, and in case you were wondering, banging on the drums is FUN!

Friday Mishmash - Soggy Edition

So, I had an exciting afternoon on Wednesday, and not in a good way.  I was at my computer when I heard a loud BAM and then water wooshing - I ran into my bathroom to see the hose that connects to the toilet tank to the wall loose and flapping around like a wild water hose!   I got soaked as I tried to turn the handle that is supposed to shut off the water - SUPPOSED TO.  It didn't shut off!  The water was now flowing out of that little room into the bigger bathroom - I threw a bunch of towels on the floor and tried to figure out what to do.  Jeff was (naturally) out of town.  My neighbor who works 10 days on/10 days off wasn't home.  I couldn't get the main valve outside to shut off...it was getting pretty bad.  Found one neighbor who was home and she came over to help but couldn't get the main shut off either...ack!  Called the city's emergency line, where I got to hear a recording telling me to leave a message - on their emergency line??

My neighbor called some friends - I think she went through 3 or 4 before she finally got someone to direct her to the correct cutoff valve.  I was ready to call the fire department at this point - water had seeped through the walls into my closet and the laundry room!  Our bathroom, that we just repainted and fixed up, was a mess!  So upsetting, especially since we'd just made it look nice - why couldn't it have happened before?!

I called a plumber who came out pretty quickly and replaced the bad hose (and the hoses connecting to the other toilets, for good measure as they had the same plastic fittings that failed on this one...I looked at them as ticking time bombs at that point).  Then I called in one of those disaster companies to help - I could see the water seeping up the sheet rock on the walls, plus the carpet in the closet was soaked through.  This was beyond my ability to fix - I needed the big guns.

See the water line on the wall?  Seepage...not good.

The soaked carpet in the closet...

The big guns - fans and dehumidifiers, all drying out the bathroom.

I've had to sleep in the guest room - thankfully A) I have a guest room; and B) it's on the other side of the house, away from the noisy equipment - for the last two nights and will continue to do so for another couple of nights.  Now I'm dealing with insurance, deductibles, and all sorts of dumb things that come with being a homeowner.  Blergh!  I will say that when my stress levels started to settle down, the first thing that came to mind was that I wanted an iced tea.  Not chocolate (although that came later), not anything to stuff my face with - just a cold drink.  So at least there's that (she says, trying to look on the bright side). 

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And now, on to more pleasant things.

Lots to catch up on - and yes, I'm still pulling things from May.  One of the fun things that we noticed when Barbara and Theresa visited was how much Theresa's grown up in the four years since they were here.  We deliberately did some "then and now" pictures for comparison:

 

At the George Bush (senior) presidential library - what's espeically funny about these pictures is that in the shot taken in 2009, Theresa was a bit afraid of statue George.  It took a lot of convincing to get her anywhere NEAR him for the picture on the left...you'll notice that the chair was pulled a "safe" distance away in order to get her there.  Now, in 2013, she had QUITE the time with statue George!

Also?  We have no idea where she gets it from:

No idea at all...

The terracotta warrior statue was another scary one back on 2009 - we couldn't even get her near that one.  Cut to 2013 and she was mimicking the pose!

This one slays me...look how little she was!!!  Paco still sits like a champ for a cookie.

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I haven't had a knitting update in a while - next week, I promise.  Oh - I've got a visit to a special yarn store on tap for next week, too - I am ridiculously excited about that, plus I have a birthday gift card to spend, and some fun projects planned...can't wait!

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Alright, I'm too scattered to think of anything else to say, so have a good weekend, and may there only be water where you want it in your life!

Color Up 5K Recap!

A color run finally came to town, so we did it.  Even though it was scheduled for June 1st.  People, in case I haven't been clear, June is not racing weather in Texas.  I signed up for it back in, oh, April, and I can't even blame the cooler temps at the time for my weather delusions/amnesia - I knew it was going to be ridiculously hot on June 1st.  And yet, there we were, along with at least 2,500 other fools, waiting to run three miles and have colored powder thrown at us.  Whee!  I think this picture pretty much sums up the trepidation that Amy and I were feeling beforehand:

"What in the heck were we thinking?!"  "The music is too loud!"  "Why are we wearing cotton?!"  "I'm melting already!"

Happy campers we were not - at least, not in the beginning.  This race had a 9:00 am start time.  We normally run in the early morning, before the sun comes up - yes, it's warm and humid, but at least we don't have a burning fireball in the sky, searing our skin.  So there was that negative thought swirling around, plus the fact that we were wearing our cotton race shirts, which pretty much everyone was, to show off the color as we were pelted with it.  We don't normally wear cotton to run in; technical fabric is our friend on these sweaty days. 

Oh, and there was a DJ who was playing some good music, but it was way too loud.  So we were cranking about that as well, when we noticed this:

Amy's girls, dancing away...enjoying the music, the event, and not appearing grumpy at all.  Fine, fine - take a lesson from the six-and-under crowd and just go with it!

Attitude adjusted.  What a way to spend the last day in my forties, eh?  Here's some before shots:

 Four before - so clean!

They were handing out Pixie Sticks in all the colors of the rainbow!

Close up of how I protected my hair from the color - my Hoo Rag came in handy!  Blonde hair takes color a little too well, and I didn't want to spend the summer with rainbow hair.  This set up worked great!

 

Random runner - I was too shy to go take his picture, but Julia grabbed my phone and approached him...and got an awesome pose as well!

The race was so large that they ended up starting it in waves - in fact, we stayed up on the hill when the first group was sent off...with a bang of colored ribbons:

And they're off!  Up the same hill that Jenny and I have used for hill repeats on Tuesdays!

We finally got into the starting area and took off at 9:24 a.m.  We started off running but came to the first color station (yellow) pretty quick.  Walked through it - I think I closed my eyes, as I was worried about the powder bothering my contacts.  Made it through and none of us could shake the feeling that we were covered with pollen - it was the same color!  We ran a bit, but honestly, it was hot and very crowded, so we walked way more than we ran.  We went quite a way before the next color station (green).  This time, I raised my arms up and did an eggbeater move through it, to get full coverage.  Oh yeah, I was getting skilled with this!

After that dusting, there was a water stop - but it had a line of at least 40 people waiting for water!  I've never seen anything like that at a race, even the big ones I've done.  Hopefully they will add additional water tables/volunteers next time.  We didn't stop for water - probably should have, but who wants to stand in line?  Anyway, just beyond the water stop I heard a familiar voice - it was my dentist!  So random and funny, especially because I've got my six-month cleaning next week!  Gave him a colorful, sweaty hug and we were off to the blue section.  Then we ambled through the park and ended up at the pink section, where Julia laid down on the pink ground and rolled her way through!  She was committed...or should be committed?  Ha!

The last section was the purple station, Julia's favorite color (her bridesmaids wore purple, that's how much she loves it).  Guess what?  They were OUT OF COLOR.  So disappointing!  We came around to the finish, where they were handing out color packets for the "color party" afterward - we all snagged purple packets so Julia could get her purple on!  We ended up having a good time, but all agreed that it was a once and done type of race experience.

More pics:

Four before...and after!  

 Free cotton candy - yes please!

Julia with her rainbow armpits - we came up with our new slogan for our running club after seeing this pose:  USAFit BCS - We Sweat Rainbows!

Just another Saturday run?

 I was blasted with green the most and it was still on my neck, even after a good scrubbing in the shower!

 

Jeff assuming his traditional post-race position...

Amy's girls and her husband had their own color party!

Our shirts - they looked pretty cool after (Jeff's, especially), but even though I tried to set the color with vinegar, most of it rinsed out.  Good thing I took this picture before trying that!

This ended up being a fun way to not only end our Spring racing season, but also end my forties!