Wisdom of Age- Goals

If you had asked my 16 year old self to run a 10K.  She would have laughed in your face.  She was busy with speech, choir, band, and playing horrible basketball. Why run when not being chased? 

If you had asked my 20 year old self to run a 10K.  She would have laughed in your face.  I'm too busy hanging out with my friends to do other stuff.  I barely made it to the gym otherwise.  There were daily games to be played, homework to do, and sleeping late to be done.

If you had asked my 30 year old self to run a 10K.  I would have laughed at you.  Now, in my defense, 30 year old me had new baby.  I was trying to get back into shape.  At least 30, I understood that I exercise could be fun and that exercise equals eating more cookies with less guilt.  I myself and running as an example when teaching Health Psychology of how I would never run.

What a difference 2 years makes...

Well, I get the joy of running now.  I like just shutting it all off and going.  Just like from any exercise, I get the energy from just doing it.  I love exercise.  I am probably healthier now than I was at 20.  I can definitely push my body harder- whether it is weights, running, or a class.

So it is summer and while summer is a time of relaxation to me summer is a time to get your head on straight.  Figure out what you want, devise a plan of how to get there so I've been reflecting lately.

1) Find next year's race.  I really enjoyed doing the 10K at the Fargo Marathon. It was wild.  Now I would happily run it again next year, but it is the same day as graduation (which I can't miss).  So I need to find a different race (hopefully, my running friend will come with me!).  Now comes the idea of what to run.  So we believed we wouldn't want to run a half marathon, but after running the 10K it does not seem so far off from possible.  After our race we discussed, a 2 year plan leading to the half.  We shall see.  I am toying with running the 10K at the Fargo Mini Marathon on October 19 (registration is $30 until 7/14).  Hey running friend, we'll talk.  I really like a goal.  For example, right now I am working on sprinting and speed drills for a Zombie 5K in July. 

2) Recovery.  So I know I don't take the best care of my body with pre-workout stretching or in the post-workout stretch.  I try and I do stretch, but sometimes my body just feels like I'm not giving it the recharge/stretch that it wants.  So this year, I'm going to figure this out.  Maybe a weekly yoga class.  Maybe longer scheduled stretching.  May sneaking in more stretching throughout my day.

3) Keeping it fresh.  I want to spend at least one day a week in an exercise class.  I like have somebody boss me around.  It forces me to push myself and do things I would not want to do on my own.

4) Reading. I didn't have much downtown this last semester.  And I'll be honest, I'm still suffering the ill effects of that.  I'm not feeling the "recharge" of summer yet and considering it is June that's not cool.  So tonight I read, a mindless book, one I've read before and it was glorious.  I need to find a night where I just curl up.

5) Bringing the ladies. I suck at taking time for myself.  I do.  I can admit that I suffer from working mom guilt.  So I need to find a few hours to be around my female friends.  This summer we have a plan to have kid hang out time, but I'm hoping to find a time during the school year too. 

6) Food.  Goal one.  Show little miss that you can choose more than peanut butter and jelly.  How through patience?  Following a more compacted menu instead of always eating something very different each week.  Goal two.  Keep us on the healthier side.  I want to up my veggies and control my snacking/desserts.  Oh how I love sweeties.  People think I joke about the whole exercise for cookies things.  NOT A JOKE!

7) The Joy.  I need to remember the daily joy that I have.  I get caught up in the have to's and the I didn't get that done's.  Today, husband and I got a hat fashion show from the Miss.  She grabbed a hat, then came over to us, would spin at Daddy's request, and then head of to get the next hat.  It was adorable. 

I think that's all I've got for now, but it's alot.

So I took the Semester Off....

I accidentally took the semester off from blogging.  I didn't do it purposefully, exactly.  I did it out of self preservation. 

Teaching a 3 credit overload is not so much fun.  Don't get me wrong.  I like the extra money, but I became overwhelmed and/or burned out from the semester way too soon.  It just felt like I couldn't keep up.  Too much to prep, too much to grade.  I'm not saying I would not do it again.  However,  I would much rather do it with classes I have taught before.  The one new prep make this hurt more. 

So I'm now into summer school.  I'm teaching a little more summer school than I thought I would.  Again, it is more money which is good.  And it is all relaxed scheduling of classes I have taught before.  I'm also beta testing my new Intro book for the fall which is working out pretty good. 

On the fitness front,  I can say it.  Here it is, out loud, for the internet.  I think I like running.  Okay, okay, I like running.  I like having a race to train for.  It keeps me motivated.  Don't get me wrong, sometimes I get super trapped in my head when on the track.  However, I feel very powerful when I push myself.  I also like races.  They are a nice challenge with others.  I never thought I would say this, but I think I might run a half marathon in the future.  I really thought I would die before saying that (and by no means will it be easy).

Where is all of this from? I ran my first 10K at the Fargo Marathon on May 18.  It was crazy.  There are so many people.  Even when you are not particularly fast (which is how I classify me, but I'm way faster than I thought), you always seem to be passing people.  It was rainy and my shoes were heavy and hard, but it was amazing.  Having that medal put around your neck is the neatest feeling.  I hope to run the 10K there again next year- that is, if the marathon weekend is not the same as graduation (I'm really hoping it is not).  My running friend and I are thinking maybe a two year plan to a half.  My husband swears that by the end of the summer, I'm going to think I'm big and could run a half next year.  I guess we'll see. 

I like how running is increasing my fitness. My body is holding weight so much differently now which is neat.  I'll like to loose a little more fat and put on some more muscle this summer, but we'll see how it goes. 

Health wise- it was  a rough semester full of colds.  And at the moment girlie's skin is killing me.  My daughter is all red faced and puffy. Apparently I picked the wrong type of sunscreen and well that's the result.  I know it could be worse.  I know she is just somewhat uncomfortable, but I HATE seeing her like this. It makes me super neurotic.  Hence, why I am blogging- it's called a distraction.  Okay, time to maybe focus though. 

Christmas

I survived the end of the semester.  It was close. I'm a little worried over next semester when I teach an overload.  I know it will be fine once I'm doing it.  Because then I won't be thinking, just going. 

I got ride of a paper in once class and added a presentation which will totally help.  I will keep the class I am most worried about with the burden on the students which will help me.  I will reign in my assignments outside of class for my writing intensive course.  I will remember that I have two wonderful students serving as my teaching assistants to help me. 

I'm enjoying my time off even though it has only been four days.  Starting tomorrow I'm going to try to make some head way during "naps."  My life will be so much easier if I start the semester ahead. 

Christmas went well.  Little one enjoyed her presents and had a great time. 

As I preview videos

As I preview videos for a lecture on Thursday, I am marveling in my accomplishments.  Once this lecture is complete, I will be done with my prep work for the semester. 
Then I have 25 papers left to grade and four tests to create.  It is coming together.  I will survive.  I will survive- hey hey!

Hot Mess

I'm totally a hot mess at the moment.  I'm stressed, I'm easy to anger, I'm easy to cry....

It's not a fun time in the semester and I'm not exactly handling it with grace and poise anymore.  I'm coping via coffee and running from zombies. 

So the good news is that on my run this morning, I escaped twice.  Which was fun.  I got to run to my new running list which was okay.  It started well, but I'm going to need to tweak things. 

So I am going to go home, cuddle a child and a kitten.  Eat left overs and play for a few hours.
Then I'm going to grade a few more papers.  Then I'm going to go to bed early. 

And tomorrow I will be closer to done with the stack of papers I have.  And I will try not to think about the second stack that I get tomorrow. 

I can do this.  I can do this. 

Work Out Challenge

So it is back to running for me.  My friend and I are going to push ourselves and run a 10K in May. Now that's a long way from now, but I'm hoping to not feel like dying from running outside.  So it is now game on.  I'm thinking I need to run two to three days a week so I can get back in the swing of things. 
Now to help myself, I have done two things.  I purchased, Zombies, Run! which is epic.  I ran to it today and it was a great fun.  When it is not super late (and I have time) I'll talk more about it.
And I started http://sweatforacause.com/challenge/55 I was called a wussy by a co-worker so I said game on.  I'm excited about kicking her butt. 

Last thankful & overwhelmed

So I missed one last day of thankfulness.  I am thankful for sleep.  I need more than I get, but I am grateful for how easily I fall asleep.

So I am fraying at the seams right now.  I’m only prepped for part of Tuesday.  I’ve got a giant stack of papers to grade.  I’m totally freaking out.  I don’ t know how I’m going to find the time and I want to be super avoidant about it (hence this post)…. Okay enough.  Time to work.