Valentines

Cael's valentines turned out pretty well, I think! He's really excited that they're 3D! :)

This weekend

We had a pretty good weekend. Friday I got my 9 miles in. I have to do 11 on Thursday, because Allen's coming in this weekend, and I don't think he'll let me out of his sight long enough to do 11 on the hotel treadmill. We get to spend the weekend in Omaha as a family, and I'm really excited. :)

This week's challenge from Ben is all about food. I'm doing better on which foods I can eat and which one to stay away from. I can actually eat a cupcake and things now, but they still give me headaches. They just don't end up as fire in my stomach. I'm taking my meds regularly, so that has helped me a lot. I have an alarm set on my phone, so I know I'll remember.

The speech meet in Minden went pretty well. 30 teams! 30! It really needs to be capped at around 20. 30 is crazy. Even Bellevue West was there. A couple of my novice teams earned medals, and a my varsity kids earned superior ribbons. Next Saturday is at Northwest here in GI, but I won't be there. Obviously. Our AD is going to be there for me. We also got to Skype with Allen Saturday evening, so that made us happy. Sunday was a usual Sunday for us. Church, Wasabi Bistro, home, laundry, nappage. It was a good day.

It's slick out there, y'all! Be careful!

Week 7 via Ben

Welcome to week seven, y'all.

Week seven theme: Food.

Quote: There is no quote. We all know how big a deal food is. We gotta stay in control.

Week Seven Challenges

• Write a list of your trouble foods. What do you habitually struggle with? Write them down.
• Stay away from those foods this week. We will make this a long-term commitment, but for now, focus on making it through the next six days without those foods.
• Talk grocery lists with your buddy.
• Write down three foods you've never eaten. Ever. Something you've always been scared to try.
• Eat two of those foods this week. Look up a recipe and create it. Eat it, write down your thoughts about it. You may or may not share this with the group during submissions
• FOCUS ON EATING. Count calories if that's what you're comfortable with. Just be vigilant.
• Stay accountable to your buddy. We all know food is tough; we'll need a friend this week.
• Pushups, planks, jumping jacks. Stick with your exercise routines, but this week is all about food.
• Try to eat in. Make it fun. Find great healthy recipes. Cook with friends and family. Cook with your kids or your significant other.

This is what it's all about, folks. It's tough, but necessary. Maybe you're rocking the food. Great. Stick with it. Help those of us that struggle on a regular basis with it.

Do good this week.

New workout

This morning, Robin and I did Zumba. We borrowed it from Jo so we could do it on the Wii. It was pretty fun. I could throw it in once in a while to shake things up. Hopefully I'll get 5 miles in tonight. It's snowing - again - but lightly, so hopefully there won't be too much accumulation, since the side streets are pretty slick this morning.

HUGE surprise!

I got an email from Active.com last night and almost didn't open it, but it was labeled as "summer races in your area." Ok, I'll give it a look. What was at the top? WARRIOR DASH comes to NEBRASKA!! June 9 & 10. I signed up immediately, of course. Robin probably thought I was going insane, having a stroke, or both. I sent out urgent texts to my kids that I took earlier this school year. They're registered! Woohoo! I'm going to try to get more kids to go this time, since it's in the summer. The race is listed as Louisville, NE, which is the exit you take when going to the SAC museum, so I'm familiar (kind of) with the area. I'm sooooo excited!

I got 5 miles done on Friday, and I did my workout that my buddy sent me. I was supposed to do the Army PT test. I did ok. I wouldn't have passed, though. Not in a million years. I did 28 (the last ones probably shouldn't have counted) pushups, 102 crunches (not situps), and my 2 mile was 19:39. I was proudest of my 2 mile. I should be able to go faster, but since I've never actually timed a 2 mile before, it was a pretty good effort.

Cael's been having a rough time lately with not listening, and acting just plain crazy. We talked about it last night, and decided that all of his toys would be put away. We made a chart, and he has to earn 6 stickers to earn a toy back. This morning he got one for listening and getting through our routine without any hassles. Tonight, if he's good, he'll get another sticker. He might even get a sticker if he sat quietly in the gym instead of running around like he usually does. He was very proud to get to put the sticker on this morning. He also lost movie privileges, so he has to earn those back as well. It was a pretty smooth morning, I must say!

Week 6 via Ben

Week Six: Getting over the hump. Recommitting.

It's been a month now and this is when people start to relax. This is when New Year's resolutions fizzle out. The holidays are over, the Super Bowl is over, the cold of winter has us curling up in a ball when we could be out running.

Don't settle. Push the pedal.

---

WEEK SIX CHALLENGES:

(Since we're all at different places in our health and fitness journeys, there will be some differing challenges.)

• Focus on your excuses again. Write them down and defeat them.
• Commit to exercising all seven days even if it's just active recovery.
• Get outside the box. One day, do an exercise routine you've NEVER done. Go to Zumba, try a swim class, go rollerblading. It doesn't matter what it is, but give it your all and push hard.
• Beginners: Do 180 minutes of exercise this week. And 150 jumping jacks.
• Intermediate-Advanced: Do your scheduled routine but add a workout from your partner. Message your partner telling them to give you an assignment.
• Stay connected with your partner.
• Send the Men in Black to my apartment to zap out the Super Bowl. Do not want to remember.
• Push hard, guys. We have to stick with it even when it's getting monotonous.

---

And please remember, this is just a kickstart. Keep working on the things you need to work on to better your life. Maybe this encompasses all of those things, maybe it doesn't. But you know as well as I do that it's worth it to keep doing it.

Saturday I'll make an official submission thread. By Sunday, post your weekly reflections, results, and thoughts there. Be sure to take pictures if you can. Get creative.

Do good, do life.

I've been in my bubble

so if you haven't heard from me, I apologize. I knew when I started marathon training again this would happen. Basically, it's workout, school, run, home, make supper, talk to Allen, bed, get up and do it again the next day. Throw in Cael's activities, and you've got a full week. I'm not complaining, though. It's just how it is right now. Tonight is Cael's first football practice, so I'm sure I'll have pictures of that. He had to get a mouthguard. He and his daddy have a wicked gag reflex, so I had to cut off the back of the guard so he could get it in his mouth without gagging. He's been wearing it a little every night just to get used to it. Tonight should be interesting. I'm sure it will look more like chickens running around than football. Entertainment at its best. I didn't get a run in last night just because we went to WR, and Cael fell asleep. I grabbed enchiladas, and headed home. I'm going to the gym after our teachers' inservice today, though. 5 miles. Oh ya. Next week's long run is 9 miles. That's kind of a pivotal one for me. It's the beginning of the "long" long stuff. If I can get comfortable doing the 9, 10, 11, and 12 stuff, I'll be pretty comfortable from then on. Still hoping my GU isn't going to attack my stomach, otherwise, I don't know what I'm going to do for fuel. I made a workout for my buddy. I hope she likes it. It's run a mile, weights, run a mile. I used to do that one last year when Allen was losing all of his weight. I should probably do it too, come to think of it.