Back At It

Last August I tore my ACL. With in a week I had surgery to replace it. That put my life of exercise on hold for a while. No soccer for at least a year from surgery, no running until I was cleared/finished with physical therapy. For me, no exercise is hard on me.

In the interim I discovered The Dailey Method, stretch and flex as my husband calls it. It was a perfect segue back to my world of exercise. I have been doing that fairly consistently since Halloween. I think I have sort of burned out with that regimen. I am still going at least twice a week, but feel like I need more.

Today I ran, not far and not long, but I ran. It is the first day since I had my knee fixed that my knee has felt good enough to run. It felt so good that I intend to put another mile in before I pick the boys up from school. This is progress! Running isn't my favorite thing to do, but it keeps me sane, it's easy to do, and fairly inexpensive. It always makes me feel good after I finish a run, my mind is clear, my heart is open, and my soul is calmed.

It's nice to be back at it.

Get The Hell Out!

Remember THIS post? Well, the fighting didn't stop after the crazy ass woman shouting at the top of her lungs came out. In fact it was better for a few days and then they were right back at it. Fighting. In. The. Backseat. It makes me CRAZY!

I started thinking about what might make an impact on them and save my sanity. It hit me one day on the way home from school when Trevor and Luke were fighting. They were nit picking, arguing, touching each other, and just being obnoxious towards each other. We got to a road near our house that the kids used to refer to as "The Turkey Hunt" road (we used to see a bunch of wild turkeys on this road when they were younger and drive down it to check them out) and I turned down it (we live on a very busy road that doesn't have sidewalks and this road is hardly ever traveled) and kicked them out. They both dropped their jaws and looked at me like I WAS crazy. I looked back at them and told them again, very calmly I might add, to get out. I then proceeded to tell them that if they had that much negative energy to get out of their systems then they could run it out. They got to run that road all the way to the end. Once at the end they were allowed to get back into the truck.

I thought for sure that would solve the problem. I thought wrong......they got back into the truck and started in on each other......again! Well I went across our road to another one that linked back up to our road and told them, calmly, to get out. Luke was smart he got out right away and started to run. Trevor tried to hop into the bed of the truck but was quickly jumping back out when he saw me get out of the truck. I blew by them and waited at the end of the road. Luke made good time, but Trevor was a bit slower.

You think that cured them? Not at all. The got back into the truck and started in on each other again. At this point there wasn't anywhere to drop them off safely so I drove home and they each got to do a few laps around our 5 acre property. Hee hee hee, it was fun to watch them get mad at me and forget their nit picking ways on each other.

I have only had to do that 2 other times. Driving to school and back is much more bearable. I am fully satisfied with how carpool goes these days and I won't hesitate to do it again! What better way to get rid of the negative energy?

Angst...

I'm full of it these days. Before kids I would take to the street and

Now that I have kids I have to find other outlets, after all I can't just get up and go anymore. Once school is in session I will be able to do that, as well as get back into a routine that doesn't involve dragging them all over the place. My outlet still involves getting physical, it helps to get out the pent up energy, frustrations, etc. As of late my task has been to stack

It's like a science to stack. Some people have a building to prop the pile up against, while others use 2 trees as their guide. Me? What do I use? My brain. In order to stack it so that it doesn't fall over you have to create an end that is stable and sturdy. It needs to be squared off.....so laying the wood in one direction and then laying the wood in the opposite direction as I build. Because I have to think about what I am doing and placing the wood properly, my mind works out the frustrations and angst that have built up during the summer.

I also have a tendency to bake. Well, actually, I love to bake. When I'm hit with frustrations that I can't run or exercise off I will bake. Today I made some of these

Who doesn't love a bit of chocolaty goodness? Me? I could eat the whole pan! I won't because my body is already falling into the shape it was in prior to a rigorous exercise program. Another good thing about school is that I WILL be able to get back into an exercise routine. Once the brownies cooled off I decided I needed to share with my SIL....see she gets to have a piece of my angst (the chocolate of course).

What works for you?

Got Mud?

Ever hear of this?

It is held in 18 cities across the United States. Love this race. It's fun, dirty, and well, fun. In order to participate you must have a partner. This is how it works: one of you runs while the other bikes, at a certain point you have to go through a small obstical course and then the runner becomes the biker while the biker becomes the runner. It is about 6 miles long and there are 5 or 6 obsticals before you hit the mud pit. Good times!

This is the infamous Mud Pit. It is said that every year someone loses their wedding ring or car key. That stuff is so thick and sloppy. It was made just for kids. But in this case the big kids are the ones having all the fun.

As you can see we couldn't seem to stay clean. I always heard mud is good for the skin.

This year I joined the many who have lost a wedding ring or car key, but I lost mine on the trail somewhere. I lost my key, so I called hubby from the Ranger's Office (no cell service at this race) and waited patiently while he and the boys brought me a spare.

I Rock!

Can you see me? Hard, I know, it's a small picture. Yep that's me running the Rock n Roll 1/2 Marathon. It took me 2:35:20, but I did it. I ran the entire time! Crazy! The last mile was tough, however it was horrible for a woman 3 years my junior....she died and I saw the paramedics doing chest compressions on her. An accomplishment followed by something very sad.

Here's something even crazier, I am doing another one in 2 weeks. I need to make sure my pigs and soles of my feet are well rested, they are rebelling on me today. I will certainly let you know how it goes with that on. The exciting thing? I get a nice Tiffany's necklace handed to my by the city's finest in tuxedos. Talk about eye candy. Wish me luck, I will need it!