The Graduate!

So many of you know I recently finished my first round of P90X! It was hard and it was awesome! The program really pushes you beyond what you think you are capable of which I'm proud to say I pushed it hard! I have more muscle tone than I ever thought possible and really can't wait to see what a few more rounds and some other programs will bring to this little mama!

I got a present in the mail today. When you finish your first round there's something online you fill out and about three weeks later you get this awesome shirt in the mail. The front just says P90X and the back, well c see if you can make it out in the pic. I couldn't wait for someone else to take it, so forgive the self taken shot. Yup. I love my new shirt!

Most Awesome Adventure

Well, I was lucky enough to spend the day as a chaperone for the middle school youth group on a trip to Michigan's Adventure! I wasn't sure what to expect, but I knew a lot of the kids likely to go and I wanted to ride the rides and have fun in the sun, do I found someone to take my work shift and I went. What a most excellent day! I hung out mostly with six other girls, two other adults (I'm old enough to be their mother, but they were at least 18) and four crazy 7th and 8th graders. Awesome!!!! Here's a pic of the girls I took while waiting in line for the logger run. I got completely soaked and it was fun!!!!

This is Hannah, Reagan, Elizabeth, Allison, Chelsea, and RaeLynn! Together the 7 of us completely giggled, screamed and chatted our way through most of the park today and basically had the best day I've had in a very long time! I will be doing this again for sure!!!!!

Whoa, where does the time go?

So it's been a while. To say the least! I've been busy trying not only to get fit but get super duper x style fit with P90X and I finished round 1 already! I'm working on round 2 which I've made a hybrid with marathon training. Planning on a marathon on October 21, more on that later. I found a nifty app for my iPhone where I can post right from there so I may actually post more often. We will see.
Tomorrow I get to go to Michigan's Adventure with the youth group, so I'm praying the rain in the forecast stays away for one more day!!!! I'm going to see if I can post a pic of me before I started running to my current state of awesomeness. If it works I'll be shocked!!!! Have a great day!

Patience, My Dear.....

I keep telling myself that every day because in three weeks.... I'M GOING TO VEGAS!!!!! I'm so excited I can't even explain it. I had a best friend growing up and she is turning 40. She now lives in Vegas and invited me and a bunch of other people out there to visit and party with her. I really didn't think I was going to be able to go, and truly the financial part of it's probably more than I need to spend this year, but I'm going. It may take too long to pay off my credit card, but I'm going. I'll spend as little as possible when I'm there, but I'm going!!!!

The best part, even though seeing my friend and celebrating her birthday will be amazing... I have a cousin who lives there. The last time I saw this cousin was at her wedding 11 years ago. I've never met her gorgeous kids. I can't wait to see her and meet those beautiful kids!!! I have another cousin who lives in southern California.... she and her husband and her baby are coming to visit that weekend too!!!!!! I've never met her husband or son. I can't wait to get my hands on that kid!!!!

So basically, I'm more excited about this upcoming trip than I've ever been about a vacation in my life! I'm trying not to let it interrupt my life, but it's definitely at the forefront of my mind. I can't believe it. I'm going to VEGAS!!!!!! In the meantime... patience, my dear... patience....

Yes, I'm That Kind Of Crazy....

I know this blog isn't about knitting anymore, and I'm ok with that, I just need an outlet to unleash some thoughts and maybe even put down some goals to hold myself accountable. Ok? Ok.

So as the new me becomes an athlete, I'm learning something... I need goals. I just don't function without a race to train for!!! I did SOOO great training for my half marathon and it turned out perfect. Then I said for the next two months or so I was still going to run but I was going to focus more on strength, right? Right. Well, let's see how that's going.... it's just a little unfocused. Not that I haven't been working out, I truly have, but I just feel like I'm floundering! This week I didn't get to workout on Tuesday which is a unusual, but it was a work meeting thing, so from Sunday to Thursday I hadn't exercised... and it was killing me! Today was rainy, 45 degrees, and windy and I ended up running 6 miles! I needed that SOOOO bad! I don't want to skip another workout for a while, that was brutal!!! Also, the week after my half, I was at my goal weight... now I'm 2.5 pounds heavier again!! I know it's not all about the scale, but I swear I do feel the difference and I don't want some of my old bad habits to start creeping back in, so I'm sticking with my eating and workout plan until I get back and under my goal!

So I'm making another plan. I don't have the date of the first race I'm planning next spring, but it will be another half marathon in April (again with my awesome college roomie). Then after that I'm planning the 25k (15.5 miles) in Grand Rapids (the Fifth Third Riverbank Run) which is May 12. After THAT.... I'm going to find a marathon to train for! Yup, I said it. Next fall, probably September or October, I will find and train and run a full marathon. 26.2 miles. I won't set a time goal, I will just train to finish as strong as I can. I'm that kind of crazy.

Ok, now that I've actually said it in "writing" I feel like the goal is set. I will achieve this just like I have in the last year! I started by just wanting to run a 5k.... two years later I'll be running a marathon. At age 40. Because I'm an athlete now. And I'm crazy!

Wow, I Really Need A Break....

I can't believe I keep forgetting to blog! Guess it's a good thing I don't get paid for it.... of course if I did I might remember to DO it!!! LOL!

Anyway, since my last post I did something I'm pretty freaking proud of... I ran a half marathon! And I finished in 2 hours 16 minutes, which is WAY faster than I thought I could run. Yup, I'm pretty proud of myself! So since then I've been cutting back on running and working on some cross training just to keep myself as fit as possible. I will pick back up the training for another race around the first of the year. I've got two races I want to do, another half marathon in April and a 25k in May. In case you don't get the conversion, a 25k is 15.5 miles and since the half marathon is 13.1, I know I can do it! Will it be hard? Absolutely, but that's what makes me want to do it. I need a challenge and this will work! I'm going to need to gear up for winter so I can run all season long, but that's just part of the training. I really can't run on a treadmill anymore, so getting in those winter/snowy/rainy/dark runs will just be part of the experience! I'm sure I'll have some stories for you soon!!!!

Last weekend I went down to WMU for Homecoming and it was so much fun! Met a few friends and some new people too and tailgated and played drinking games and enjoyed a Bronco win all while getting sunburned (yes, in October)(yes, I had sunscreen in the car) and totally loving every minute! Part of my new life is just being comfortable in my own skin and seeing people I hadn't seen in nearly 20 years was kind of surreal and made me feel just amazing. Seriously makes me wish my class reunion had been this year instead of last summer!! LOL!

Anyway, I'm 2 pounds away from what I'm calling my "goal" weight. I think I'm stopping here because I feel amazing, I'm technically a "healthy" weight, I'm wearing a size 4 and what else can an almost-40-year-old Mom ask for????? I really hope everyone I know and love can get to this place at somepoint in their life, because it feels terrific!!!! I might even be inspiring my Mom which would be amazing to me!!!! So get out there and start moving... you WON'T regret it!!!!!

Now I need a vacation...

I'm Busy, So Sue Me....

Yup, so there's been a lot going on in my life and I haven't updated this since before I went to the most amazing concert ever!!!! That weekend was AWESOME! I spent some much needed girl time with my awesome friend, saw not one but TWO cool concerts (total of 6 bands) and drank too much beer. I relaxed, I screamed, I ate, I enjoyed. That's what the good things in life are all about, in my opinion. Life is good.

So, the summer wrapped up like usual, running around trying to get everything together at the last possible second and panicking that the weather decided that my plan to not buy jeans for a few more weeks was not acceptable so I sent my son to school in shorts when it was 45 degrees out in the morning. Yup, I'm supermom. NOT!!!! Anyway, we got him a pair tonight so he can wear them to the big football game tomorrow night.

Speaking of football, I love this time of year. I only have one kid playing this year so it's much easier to keep track of, but that doesn't slow us down. We'll still see many of the varsity games because, let's face it, there's not much else to do as a family in a small town, and we all love football!!!! Tomorrow evening is the big East/West game here in our town where the two high schools play each other. We root for West, and both teams are really good. We get to be the home team this time. This is good so we don't have to face the sunset. I love football.

In two weeks I will be running my first half marathon. This both excites me and freaks me out! I know I can finish, I just hope I make a good time. I have a goal, and I think I can do it, but it still freaks me out a little. My college roomie is coming to run with me. She's not a newbie like me. I miss her! We haven't seen each other in just over two years. The before and after pics will be coming!!!! We've both lost weight and shaped up in the past two years!!!

Speaking of weight loss, I'm still losing. I want to lose a little more, but people are telling me I don't need to lose more. I'm having a hard time comprehending how they know what my ideal weight should be just based on looking at me fully clothed. I know it shouldn't bother me, but I'm still not quite satisfied at my current weight and would like to lose another 5-10 but don't want to look like a skeleton either. I still have quite a belly (thanks genetics!) which I know doesn't really show when I'm dressed, but I still see it. I hope this isn't just a body image thing, and I don't seriously think it is, but I just think a few more pounds would be perfect. Of course, if my body rebelled and said this is where I should stay, I would be fine with that. I think. I'm just confused, but I'm hoping I'll know when I should stop once I get there. There's no science to my choosing a goal weight, I just can't find an answer on this anywhere, but I'm finally into my "healthy" BMI range (which isn't exactly rocket science) and I'd like to be well into that range, I guess. See, no science, just a feeling.

My knee hurts from my run today. Crazy how that just popped into my head. I'm so random. If you've kept up with this post, I commend you. I scored two pair of nice jeans for myself at the new Goodwill store in my town this week. Today I put on one pair and found a dollar in the pocket. God is good!!!!