I Want to Flirt With Pain, Not Dance With It

I've been rather silent in the blogging world.  That is usually a good thing or a bad thing.  Right now it is a good thing.  I've been busy doing/living and haven't had much time to sit down and write about it.

Since the day after New Year's Day, my hubby Dan has been on a clean eating path.  Well.  Maybe not completely clean, but pretty darn close.  He's lost over 12 pounds thus far and I couldn't be prouder of this commitment.  He's been working out regularly as well, so some of the bodyfat he's lost has been replaced with lean muscle tissue.  Congrats to him.  The only downside is that I've had to be super organized and plan lunches and dinners on a daily basis.  We ate out twice in the month of January.  That's a new record for us as we like to dine out approximately 1-2 times a week.  Dan has been good about eliminating beer (for the most part) and indulging in an occasional glass of wine.

My daughter, Mandi, also moved back in the house the beginning of the year.  It has been fun to see her mature into this beautiful, young woman who I adore so much.  With her, came my favorite grand doggy, Skittles.  She has been a delight to have around and keeps Cameron and Louie on their toes.  Here is me cuddling with Skittles on the couch.



The New Year also seems to have inspired me to purge/organize the house.  I have been milling about cleaning drawers/closets here and there with no real direction, but I am enjoying the 'feeling' of getting organized.  I guess it is similar to planning, training and then racing in running.  There is no better feeling than knowing you trained adequately and you left nothing out there on the course.  Which, by the way, brings me to the real jist of my blog today:  I want to flirt with pain, not dance with it.

I seem to be at a crossroads and sometimes being too knowledgeable about something can make a mere hill feel like a mountain.  I used to revel in the craziness of feeling like I couldn't take another step.  I used to drink in the feeling of knowing I gave it my all.  For goodness sake, I was so focused on the finish line during a race (in high school) that I gave it everything I had and lost a little control of my bladder. Yuck!  But it is true. 

Don't get me wrong, I'm training hard these days.  This week I've had a good mix of tempo runs, recovery runs and cross training.  I am doing hill workouts again, but have yet to step on the track.  I did a couple of speed workouts on the treadmill.  Here is my little workout room that I love to occupy in the privacy of my own home.  See that little piece of equipment on the far left of the photo?  That's one of my most prized possessions:  Back inversion table.  That is what has saved me from spending countless dollars on back, IT band,  and hip rehabililtation issues.  I don't know what I ever did without one, but then again I was 40 when my hubby bought it for me. Anyhow, back to flirting with pain.  I am a motivational speaker....why can't I light a fire under my butt and as the saying goes, 'Just Do It'  (which, by the way, is trademarked, so I'm going to make sure I give Nike all the credit-why can't I come up with something inspirational that ensures our financial future?).  I will address this issue further when I return from my pacing duties at the Myrtle Beach Half Marathon next weekend.  I am going with a great group of Ladies from the Woohoo Crew and the Sole Sisters.  I will certainly have lots of photos to post from the race!  Here is Skittles wishing she had a matching pair of Kinvaras, and a walk.

Thanksgiving Thanks

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone.  It is days like these that make us sit back and take stock of our lives.  I am thankful that I am healthy and happy.  It was nine years ago on Thanksgiving that I met my husband, Dan.  We have been married 7 years now and I am still completely smitten with him.  I am thankful he is patient and tolerant of my chaotic, frenetic life.  Do you have a special someone that inspires and keeps you young?  There are usually people in your life you keep around for a reason.  I like to call them, "The necessary ingredients".  These people add to your life in more ways than you can count.

I am also thankful for my kids.  Even though we are missing 2 of them today, I know my love for them transcends all distance and time.  I cherish their independent spirits and relish in their zest for life.  The world is their oyster and all of them are on great paths.

I am thankful I can run.  Running has been my best friend and my worst enemy.  It's finding the balance in the two that makes lacing up my shoelaces all the more worth it.  There is rarely a first mile of a run I enjoy.  There is rarely the last mile of a run I enjoy.  It's the comfortable middle where you are enpowered and feel like you are on top of the world.  It's finding that homeostatic space (yeah, pace would have probably been a better word) where you are feeling joy in the purest sense of the word. 

I am thankful for a bounty of fantastic friends.  I adore all of them.  I am lucky to be able to feel vulnerable with them. There is something so magical about being real and raw.  I hope everyone is fortunate to be able to connect with their friends today and tell them how much they mean to them.

Today is a lazy day for me.  I'm still recovering from the 75 mile adventure and I have probably taught too many BodyPump classes this week.  I'm going to walk the dogs after feasting from our Thanksgiving table.

From my home to yours....Happy Thanksgiving!
Hugs, Cindy

Crooked Road 24 Hour Ultra

I was afraid to tell anyone my goal.  I didn't want to disappoint anyone, most of all myself.  I envisioned me accomplishing my goal but I had reservation because I wasn't sure if I would be recovered enough from racing in a half marathon the weekend before.  I finished in 1:30:42 and won my 45-49 age group at the Richmond American Family Fitness Half.  It wasn't a PR, but I felt like I ran pretty hard. After the half I had a full week with classes and clients and continually thought about my goal:  75 miles.  Seemed incredibly lofty since I quit after 56 laps last year.  Only a few friends knew the details because I was experiencing some fear of failure issues.  The more the week progressed the more I decided I was being silly and needed to articulate my race intentions.  I announced it to my noon class at the Yafter a vigorous BodyPump class on Thursday.  There...I said it, even explained how I was going to accomplish it.  I was going to walk more than I did the previous year.  My nervousness began to kick in.  I hate to disappoint people, especially myself.  To make matters worse, I intentionally started this blogsite the night before the event so I would have my intentions immortalized on the internet.  After writing the first entry I tried to go to sleep.  Sleep eluded me until almost midnight.  I woke up before my alarm at 6 and nervously gathered my belongings and got into my car.

I arrived and unloaded all my bags I thought I would need for the 24 hours.  Dena, my friend, and I brought way too much stuff last year when we participated in this race.  I am sheepishly admitting I brought just as much stuff, if not more.  This year I brought in addition to 2 big bags of clothes 2 yoga mats, sleeping bag, pillow etc.  I also brought tons of food that I did not eat because the organizers had a bountiful table filled with  pretzels, M&M's, grapes, raisins, bananas, cookies, burgers, soup, etc.  I was able to make it to the starting line with 10 seconds to spare and we all took off.

It was great running into several runners that I competed with last year.  Runners in ultra events are extremely friendly. There is nothing like a small loop and 24 hours to really get to know some of the people around you.  I was known as the smiling lady because even in the cold of night, I was thrilled to be where I was.

I'm sure I will blog about specific memories from this race, but for now...here are some photos taken by the race director, Ricky Scott.  Who, may I add, was very inspirational to me and helpful when I started doubting myself.  Here are some photos

This is the one and only hill on the course.  This is early in the race....although I smile throughout the rest of the photos, I can assure you I truly  f e l t  the smile in this photo.  I felt great.  I felt great until about mile 31.  More on that later.
The temperatures were in the 30's to begin with and warmed up to 50 something and then got very, very cold at night.

It warmed up nicely in the afternoon, so I was able to take off layers.  Yes, I'm still smiling.  Let me leave you with 2 more photos.  First one is taken around 1am and I was freezing, shivering and trying to keep warm by the fire with help from Johnny and Gloria who bundled me up and brought me soup.  They thought I was done. 

I'm smiling, but this was because I was finally getting warm.  I had 4 layers of clothes on, 2 scarves, hat, and gloves with hot hands in them and I was still cold!  Here is the end of today's story:

The photo says 23 hours, 17 minutes and 26 seconds.  I can now say I'm an ultra runner, but I still feel like a miler :)

In health and wellness,
Cindy