January's Run = DONE

I finished my first 5k of the year!  Yesterday evening I participated in the inaugural Kick Your Resolution 5K in St. Louis Park, MN.  I was excitedly nervous all day waiting for race time.  I kept busy throughout the day by picking up my awesome race packet, stopping off at Dick's Sporting Goods for a couple of new race items, and creating my race playlist.

The race started at 4:51pm, and the temperature was a balmy 12 degrees.  I started at the very back of the pack of runners.  My initial pace was slow and steady, and I was actually enjoying the cold air whipping across my face.  Slowly but surely I began passing people.  It felt GREAT to be running past the other competitors and feeling confident in my pace.  We ran around Louisiana Oaks Park twice.  There were some nice hills here and there, which I really enjoyed, and it wasn't too icy.  The trees were lit up with red and gold lights, and running through the winter wonderland was FUN!

With about a half mile left of the race I had come up behind a lone runner.  It seemed the two of us were the only ones around by at least 25 yards.  I set my sights on her and kept up with her pace.  My strategy was to keep right on her heels until we were about 50 yards from the finish line.  Then I would kick it down, blow past her, and sprint to the finish!  We were running about 10 and a half minute miles.  My lungs felt great, my legs felt strong, my thoughts were clear.  I heard a runner behind me, and decided to begin my sprinting.

I turned on my mental power boost, engaged my legs into moving faster, and blew past the woman I had been pacing with.  I rounded the corner to cross the glorious finish, and heard my time... 35:23!!!  I ran my first 5k of 2011 in 35 minutes and 23 seconds!  I was ecstatic, I was high on endorphins, I was collapsing into the arms of a dear friend and her family!  I had fans cheering for me!!!  My Hot Husband was there with our pooch!  They came out to support me, and all of the mental and physical work I had done was celebrated!

Post Race Picture with one of my fans!

Thank you to everyone who supported me over the past week!  All of the encouraging blog comments, Facebook posts, texts, and phone calls made a huge difference.  Thank you!

I now have my sights set on February's race!  I'll post as soon as I am registered!

New Year - New Goal!

Happy New Year!!!  We rang in the New Year celebrating the marriage of two amazing people!  It was a fun night to reflect and hope for the future!

One of the things I reflected upon was the fact that I did not meet my goal of running 250 miles before 1/1/11.  I was high on just finishing Ragnar.  It was summertime in MN.  And I put out a lofty goal for myself.  In all honesty, I really believed in myself and thought I could do it.

I was motivated and excited.  I started out a bit weak by just walking the dog every day.  But around 30 days into it, I realized that I needed to get my butt in gear (literally).  I stepped it up a bit, then ended up with shin splints.  So, I altered my methods to include "miles" on the elliptical machine and stationary bike.  But still, I didn't work as hard as I should have worked.  In the end I was 68 miles short of making the goal.  I missed my mark.

On the positive side, I have hope for the future!  I worked hard towards the end of last year, and that propelled me into working hard at the beginning of 2011.  I've come up with a new goal, and I'm even more excited about this one!

My goal is to run at least 1 5k every month in 2011!  There will be some months that I run more than one race (for example, in August I'll also be running Ragnar).  And I'd also like to run a 10k this year as well!  But the goal is to run at least one 5k each month.

Below is a list of possible races.  I'll update as I register for each one, and hope some of you will join me!  You can be sure that I'll be wearing a boa from time to time, because after all... Everything is better with a boa!!!

• January: 
• Saturday 1/15 at 4:45pm - Kick Your Resolution Run in St. Louis Park.  REGISTERED!!!
• February: 
• Sunday 2/6 at 9:45am - Freeze Your Buns Run in Hamel.  (I've been told this is kind of a lame run, but FREE pancake breakfast... uh, yes please!)
• Saturday 2/12 at 9:00am - Hearts 'r' Running in St. Paul.
• March:
• Saturday 3/12 at 9:15am - 100% Irish for a Day.  I've done this one before, and it's a blast!!!  
• April:
• Saturday 4/9 at 8:30am - Run the Valley. 
• Although it is a GREAT race, I'm more than likely NOT going to run the Get in Gear on April 30th.  I have cheered at this race a couple of times in the past, and I think I'm going to continue cheering for this one!
• May:
• - Nothing I saw immediately caught my attention in May.  Will need some suggestions here!
• June:
• Saturday 6/11 at 8:45am - Lederhosenlauf 5k.
• Saturday 6/25 at 8:00am - Plymouth's Music in the Park.  It's so close to home, I'd walk to the run!
• July:
• Saturday 7/9 at 8:15am - North Memorial Whiz Bang Run.  Doesn't the name sound fun?!
• Saturday 7/9 at 8:15am - Hackensack Sweetheart Days.  Ahhh, so sweet!  Out of town, but could still be fun!
• August: - Nothing I saw immediately caught my attention in August.  Will need some suggestions here!  
• RAGNAR!!!
• September:
• Saturday 9/10 at 10:01am - James Page Blubber Run.  I've heard this is AWESOME!
• October:
• Saturday 10/29 - Monster Dash
• November: - Waiting for more race info to come out!!!
• December: - Waiting for more race info to come out!!!

I'm open to race suggestions!  Please let me know about fun and interesting races in or near the Twin Cities!!!  

And remember... I'd L-O-V-E for you to join me!

Because I said so...

I ask the question "why" alot. And I have ALWAYS hated the answer "Because I said so." Srsly, what kind of answer is that?!

But, as it turns out... there is one scenario in which I will accept this answer. It's when one of my friends commits to making a positive choice. See, the only reason I worked out yesterday and today is because I sent an email to the MFP and the Phil telling them I would. It's only "because I said so" that I took an hour each day to take care of only me.

I guess "because I said so" can be a good reason.

Thank you friends. Thank you.

What If...

I'm very curious by nature, and I love to know the answers to "Why" and "How". One of my favorite questions is "What if". I used to play this game called "What if..." It's not necessarily a game in that there's a winner or a loser. But it was something I did for fun to pass the time. I would come up with so many different "What if's..."

There were the questions that are absolutely absurd:

What if...

• there were no sidewalks anywhere?
• babies were born as 2 year olds?
• there were no dogs?
• the automobile was never invented?
• the sky was red all the time?

Then, there were the questions that seemed absurd at the time, but became reality:

What if...

• the planes fell from the sky?
• the bridge collapsed while we were driving over it?
• the roof caved in?

Unfortunately, 99% of these questions were directed at my sister. She tried to answer them honestly for years and years. But finally one day, she looked at me and quite seriously said, "We'd all be dead." I was so startled at her answer. I couldn't believe that everyone would really be dead if we only ate beef and never tried chicken. We certainly wouldn't all be dead if we didn't know how to use a computer. And we definitely wouldn't all be dead if every car in the world was orange!

See, she sort of got frustrated with all my questioning. It was non stop, over and over, my imagination would come up with so many questions. She got so tired of coming up with answers.

But now that I'm an adult, she is one of the first people I run my "What if's..." by. I reach out to her when I have big decisions to make. We run through scenarios of what could happen. But she never tells me "We'd all be dead." She knows that my questioning is helpful, and a good thing. She embraces my curiosity. She even encourages her own kids to question things.

I still, very much, enjoy questioning things. I love knowing why a process is done one way or another. I enjoy learning how things are completed from beginning to end. I just simply love learning.

Thankfully, the answer to my questions is very, very rarely "We'd all be dead."

Christmaspolooza

It's coming, it's coming, it's coming! Christmaspolooza will be here in 9 days! I'm so freaking excited for this "lock-in" type family celebration! Brian and I head down to my sister's house on Wednesday evening, and we won't be home again until Christmas morning-ish. We stock up on everyone's favorite foods and drinks. We play board games, card games, Wii games! We laugh, we cry, we eat, we drink. We run around like we're crazy people (and maybe we are, but I LOVE it)!

Christmaspolooza is the best way for a wanna-be Jewish girl to celebrate this wonderful, loving, blessed time of the year.

No More Naked

About 6 or 7 years ago I asked a couple of High School girlfriends if they were interested in playing on a co-ed volleyball team. We gathered a couple of boys (one of their husband's, and another high school friend) and found a league on Thursday nights.

We had a blast playing indoors and thought we'd try sand volleyball. We decided (after having a few beverages) that we needed a cool team name. We tried coming up with something clever, tricky, fun. And one of the guys said, "What about Naked"? We sort of stopped, and laughed at him. But then someone said, "No wait! 'Wanna play Naked?' sounds pretty cool!" We laughed it off a bit more and decided we had a name!!!

So we began playing Naked volleyball at Mama G's in Maple Grove. We had fun every week, and made some great memories! It was great to get out and do something fun together. Every week we chatted about life, and just enjoyed being together. We went back inside for the Winter and played together year round.

Things started to change, as life generally does. One friend moved away, another decided he was too busy with work to commit, and another friend got pregnant!!! The changes were exciting and fun. The team dynamic changed a little bit, but we kept on going. Over the years we continued to have fun together. There was always laughter and smiles.

We won many championship games over the years. We came up with inside jokes ("I'll show you the ballmark!"). And we just simply had a blast.

As things continued to change in our lives we were farther and farther away from the original group. It was bittersweet how the girls were having babies, and guys were starting their own businesses. We were all moving on with such wonderful things in life. And there came less and less time for Naked volleyball.

Last week was the last time we played together. I'm fortunate enough to still be on a team, and I'll get to play every week. But I'll miss Naked. I'll miss the laughter with my friends, and winning with them. I'll miss the high fives and hugs. I'll miss being competitive with them and watching us all improve our skills. All for good reasons, Naked volleyball no longer exists.

Just before the game we'd gather hands in a circle. Sometimes we'd talk strategy. Sometimes we'd pass gas and giggle. Sometimes we'd just smile at each other. But we always had the cheer... uno dos tres NAKED!

The Crying Game

I cry when I'm sad, happy, angry, excited, frustrated... all of the above. Simply put, I'm a crier.

Below are only a few places or situations where I've cried:

• My bed (in many homes.)
• My bathroom (again, in many homes.)
• My bosses office (many bosses actually. In front of my boss and alone.)
• My high school bathroom
• My therapists office
• Bathrooms at the bar (hmm... this seems to be a theme?)
• The Start (and Finish) line of the 2009 Get In Gear 10k
• In a hotel room in Red Wing after one of my closest friends told me she was pregnant. (This was crying AND laughing. Oh, and screaming too!)
• Our wedding.
• Other weddings. I'm 99% sure that I've shed tears at every wedding I've attended.
• And, today at Mile 6, 11, and 26.2 of the 2010 Twin Cities Marathon

Today's tears came while wearing a boa... just sayin'.