bigger than me.

i'm training to run the 2011 Austin Marathon for the LIVESTRONG foundation which "fights to improve the lives of people affected by cancer". so for the next four months i am embarking on a running-awareness-fundraising bonanza! 26.2 miles is daunting enough...but now i have people counting on me & i am determined to make this venture worthwhile. i'd be lying if i said i wasn't scared - what if i get injured? (that's right IT Band...i'm shaking my fist at YOU!), what if i don't raise enough money? what if people think i'm stupid for doing this? all of these doubts though are completely worth the risk because this is a cause i am willing to fight for. i will be keeping a blog of training, motivation, fundraising updates, etc. @ www.heycanceryoureajerk.blogspot.com - please follow along in my adventure! i plan to keep writing in this blog as well to keep up with the other random ramblings of my life :)

i am currently compiling a list of people i am running in honor and memory of (more info can be found on my blog) but the individuals who originally motivated me to pursue this are:
- my Grandpa Al (currently trying to get a pic)
-my Grandma N

-Matt (who fought - and beat the CRAP out of lymphoma in 2009)


i am excited for personal reasons too - this will be my fifth and final full marathon (at least for a very long while). i've always said i wanted to do 5 so this is it! also, i will be running the race one week before my 30th birthday and i will be returning to the very first marathon i ever ran and to the city where i fell in love with the sport.

Motivated Monday - Chicago Marathon

yesterday was the chicago marathon!

with unseasonably warm weather it was a tougher challenge than expected, i'm sure (because you know, 26.2 miles in comfortable weather is a complete walk in the park...)


regardless, i hope everyone had an amazing time and walked (ok, hobbled) away with a sense of pride in their accomplishment.

shout out to my friend, christy who ran this year!!! you ROCK!

i sumbled across this article with some pretty inspiring runners' essays. these people are so awesome. i'm sure you'll agree - the fact that they have achieved such great things through hardship and trials is incredibly motivating.

motivated monday! excuses....schmexcuses....

Excuse-Proof Your Diet

great article in this month's fitness magazine about excuse-proofing your diet. good stuff! i double-dog-dare ya to give me an excuse as to why you can't exercise and/or eat right...

motivated mondays

remember motivated mondays? oh yeah probably not because i wrote mayyyybe TWO? i'm really trying to get back into this blogging thing more often!

so anyway, i came across this album on fb by lululemon. can i just say how much i adore everything about lululemon. yoga/running/fashion/community service/positivity. what's not to love about this brand? oh yeah. the price tags! nonetheless...love love love them & i love how healthy, fit & happy their ambassadors are in this album. now if this isn't motivation, i don't know what is! happy monday - have a beautiful week.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=197030&id=33693527731

joie de vivire

another awesome article from kristin armstrong in runner's world.

http://milemarkers.runnersworld.com/2010/05/fireflies.html

Fireflies
05/13/2010 11:57 AM
An interesting thought occurred to me about photographs.

Have you ever noticed the way people, particularly women, look back at old photographs of themselves and are wistful? "Oh, I looked so young then!" "Look at my skin!" (*sigh*) "Good grief, I was so skinny! And here I thought I was heavy at the time!" "Awww, look at us, just gorgeous. We had no clue."

No one ever really mentions that just as we had no clue at the time, there might exist the possibility that we have no clue right now. Captured moments of today are the wistfulness of tomorrow. I guarantee that just as we can look back at a photo from ten years ago and appreciate ourselves, ten years from now we will look at a photo from today and think the same damn thing. How come nobody brings this up? Wouldn't this awareness bring us a certain measure of peace?

Can you imagine the liberation if we could just appreciate ourselves right now? Who we are, where we are, what we look like? If we could just look in the mirror long enough for a basic once-over and a smile-wink and be done with it? If we were too content and confident to critique?

I saw my daughters this weekend, growing up before my eyes. Isabelle sang in a kid rock band on Friday night, with a music school that teaches music by ear. She played keyboard, drums, and had lead vocals on two songs. I watched her up there, mic in hand, smile on her face, totally at ease and I wanted to scrape some of the confidence oozing from her pores and bottle it up, save it to dab on myself sometimes or anoint her later, if she forgets what she's made of. This was followed by my girls' First Communion on Saturday morning. Watching them, poised, pensive, and peaceful, walking down the aisle at church – my breath caught in my chest. Are these really my girls? When did they get so tall and beautiful? The contours of their faces are losing the roundness of youth. Their features are distinct. No longer kid paws, their hands have assumed the unique shape that I will recognize for the rest of my life. I know the next time I see them walking the aisle dressed in a white gown and veil I will say to myself, "Her First Communion seems like yesterday…" Where does the time go?

I am going to make a point of taking photographs in my mind, all the time. But not just to chronicle -I want to really see them now, appreciate them right now. I want a Polaroid memory. I want to seize the moment, hold it, take it all in…and then save it.

At running group this week Amy and I were following the pack. I asked her if she noticed how unbelievable the legs were, loping in front of us. Really, they looked more like a college soccer team than a group of 40 year olds. "Do you think they have any idea how lovely they are?" I asked her. "They have no clue." she laughed. I wanted to tell them, but I couldn't catch up without popping a lung, so I'm saying it now.

Savor yourself. Cut yourself some slack. Appreciate your beauty. Wink at yourself in the mirror. Tell your husband he has nice buns. Tell your wife she's hotter than she was yesterday. Tell your children how you see them. Tell your parents thank you. Remind your friends who they are.

After all, ten years from now, right now will be ten years ago. Moments are like fireflies. You are a runner, so go chase them. Cup them carefully in your hands and watch the glow seep through your fingers. Don't miss it.

...this got me thinking about my life in intervals of "tens" where was i ten years ago? what about 20 years ago?

well, let's see...20 years ago, at age nine i was rocking the completely awkard stage that we all go through(admit it).

seriously, mom and dad...the glasses? were they necessary? shheeeeesh. but nevertheless, life was GOOD (glasses and all). it was my second year at Flour Bluff after moving and i had made some great friends (who i'm blessed to stay in touch with to this very day! thank you, facebook). i was enjoying being on the swim team (goooo parker porpoises!) and, most importantly that was the year that Sara was born!

what about 10 years ago? i was a sophomore at UT & was livin' it up to the fullest with barbara (& our adopted neighbor) jana in our very first apt...westview! what great memories from my 19th year...

that's the year that we joined AXiD & made great friends

i also met this really cute guy named cody...

my favorite year in college...and still, life was GOOD.

so that brings us to today...29! the cute guy, cody turned out to be a keeper and i am blessed every day to be sharing this life with him & to be his wife :)

we also have a very handsome son, jack.

i'm the world's proudest aunt to 6-month aiden, who has already brought such joy to my family. i can't wait to watch him grow into a little man!

and i am so grateful to have the most wonderful friends to share great times with.


every once in a while (when i'm reeeeallly lucky) i even still get to see barbara & jana:


yep, as things change, one thing remains constant: life is GOOD.

motivated monday

i'm motivated by my amazing friend, alison, who i was blessed to meet when i was in grad school at texas state. she's one of those people who just lights up a room. she is always going a million miles an hour with work/school/sports but always makes the time to care for others.

alison is so awesome in so many ways but one of the coolest things that she does (in my opinion) is her annual relay for life. this past weekend, alison participated in her 5th relay for life & for the past 3 years, she's walked a full marathon at these events (that's 26.2 miles, folks!) in honor of her dad, who lost his battle with cancer in October of 2006. what an amazing example of taking every opportunity to turn a negative situation into a positive & worthwhile experience. you ROCK alison!

http://main.acsevents.org/site/TR?fr_id=22687&pg=entry

Motivated Mondays

if you were to ask me, "what's the best day to start a new diet/workout plan/make healthy choices?", my answer would always be, "TODAY". that being said, i've found that mondays are the most common days to get motivated...whether you're starting a new diet or exercise plan or just recommitting to getting "back on track". mondays mark the beginning of a new week and a new chance to make healthy changes in your life. so each monday, i'm going to try to post something that i find motivating...an article, a quote, a new recipe, you name it - just to start the week off on a healthy note.

below is an article from runner's world that i really liked. we are a society of instant gratification...want to check your email? it takes the press of one button on your iphone (or in my case, palm pre), want to watch your favorite tv show? don't worry it's DVR'd, fast food, express lanes at the grocery store, cliffs notes, 7 day detox...and while i enjoy some of these conveniences to their fullest (especially the email and DVR) i have to admit, it creates this expectation to get results fast with very little effort. this mentality is a key factor to losing motivation when it translates to our diets and exercise plans. i completely agree with mr. bingham that it's consistency that counts for our health in the long run. but then again, i've always been a fan of marathons over sprints...enjoy!



THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT
Small things we do add up to make us who we are as runners
By John Bingham
Image by Kim Rosen


PUBLISHED 12/21/2009

Editor's Note: After nearly 14 years at Runner's World, John Bingham—perhaps better known as "the Penguin"—has decided to move on. We're grateful for all he's done for RW, and we salute him for inspiring countless runners. John personifies the idea that people can change their lives through running. We wish him the very best in his new endeavors. Below is the final "No Need For Speed" column John wrote for Runner's World.

I am not a physicist. I am a writer, runner, and recovering bass trombonist. But that doesn't stop me from thinking that I understand physics. I've read about a concept called "The Butterfly Effect." The definition goes something like this: Small variations of the initial condition of a dynamic system may produce large variations in the long-term behavior of the system. It suggests that a butterfly flapping its wings in Hong Kong can eventually affect the weather in Kansas. Cool, huh?

It got me thinking about how small variations or changes in our lives can have unexpected long-term effects. I used to be an overweight smoker who didn't exercise, but small decisions over the years—like going for that very first run—have produced large variations in my long-term behavior, helping me become the 45-time marathoner I am today.

That transformation didn't happen overnight. It didn't happen after one run, though many of us expect just that. We think that every run needs to produce some immediate benefit. Whether it's supposed to make us faster or build our endurance, the effects of today's run are supposed to take effect, well, today.

I think that's why many of us like to sprint the last quarter mile of our daily run. We like the feeling that comes from a hard effort. It feels like we're accomplishing something. (By the way, that final sprint at the end of a run is a good way to pull a hamstring. Trust me on this.)

What I didn't know then was that there is a Butterfly Effect in running. It isn't the grand gestures and epic achievements that make us runners. Sure, running for 30 minutes nonstop is great. Qualifying for Boston is great. But that's not ultimately what makes you a runner.

It's the little things we do every day adding up over time that matter. It's not just running one morning; it's getting up morning after morning and running. It's not just eating better at one meal; it's making better decisions at every meal. It's the small decisions we make almost without thinking that make us runners.

The lesson from today's run may not be important right away. Learning you're more comfortable wearing a long-sleeve shirt even when it's not that cold out may lead to the best race of your life years later. Learning that you shouldn't have eaten the Firebrand Salsa on your nachos the night before a long run may mean a marathon PR somewhere down the road.

It may be a function of aging, or it may be a function of maturing as a runner, but knowing I don't have to squeeze significance out of today's run has made running much more satisfying. Today's run might just be a run. I take it in as a point of data on an elaborate matrix. I don't try to assign a meaning to it. I have faith that somewhere, sometime, it will matter.

I run now with enormous confidence that I am doing something good for myself. I run understanding that I may never know where the winds of some running epiphany started. And I run understanding that not understanding is all right.

This will be my final new column for Runner's World. I'm not retiring, just moving on. I'd like to thank Amby Burfoot for giving me the first opportunity to write and David Willey for continuing that vision. I'd like to thank a series of wonderful editors for giving life to my words. Finally, I'd like to thank each of you for the privilege of entering your lives each month. You have given me a gift that I can never repay.

Waddle on, friends. Forever.