A Tangent...

Well, we have two more days of school left, but the heat and humidity are right on time, and summer is upon us!  Yesterday was the hottest run of the year so far.  The humidity was there, the hot wind was there, and the sun was blazing!

Summer running for me (and Geno) means no singlet.  It's just too hot.  Also, the idea that I don't want any wiggles and jiggles while I'm running keeps my dietary choices in-check!

 With summer, comes our annual trip to the beach!  We have some exciting plans for this particular trip (which I will share at a later date)....either way, I am excited!

I know weight is a touchy, touchy subject--but it makes me SO sad when I hear people who are about month or so out from a vacation say that they are going on a diet or going to start exercising to "get ready for the beach."  It is that type of thinking that holds so many of people down and keeps them in a rut.  Your LIFE and your HEALTH are more important than how you look in a swimming suit...and crash dieting, diet pills, and gimmicks are no way to go about achieving permanent weight loss.

LORD KNOWS I have had my battle with weight.  Up, down, Up, down...I finally got stabilized when I realized how important exercise is, and that I could have whatever I wanted as long as it was/is in moderation.  I spent TOO many years denying myself the simple food pleasures of life, because I considered certain foods BAD or off limits...then binging on them and feeling sick and defeated!

Balance is the key....

Two quotes I came across recently that started me off on this tangent:

1.  "Stay ready, so you don't have to get ready!"

2.  "You can't out-train a bad diet."

That second one is SO true.  Once I started running and losing weight (10 years ago), I thought I could eat whatever I wanted, as long as I ran the next day.  This mentality led me to overeat, and then try to "fix" it by adding miles the next day, or another hour on the elliptical, or more weight lifting...you catch my drift!  THAT led to overtraining, nagging injuries, and a feeling of being tired/sleepy all of the time...and grouchy!!!

I would say from the age of 25 to 35, I was basically a hot mess when it came to body image and self confidence.  At 40, I'm finally feeling like I might have this thing figured out.

Maybe.

Chatt Chase Results

Geno and I ran in the Chattanooga Chase 8K on Saturday.  It was the 46th running of the race, and one of the oldest races in Chattanooga.

It was cool (but muggy), and the course is a BEAST!  I had forgotten how difficult the first two miles are, leading up to the BIG hill, Minnekahda.  I wore myself out on those first two miles, and had to do some speed walking up Minnekahda (leading up to mile 3).

I used to judge myself on whether I had to stop and walk or not--> and would not walk even if it KILLED me.  On this day, I started getting overheated, wasn't sweating anymore, and could tell it was not going to be pretty if I didn't take a walk break and recuperate.

As I've gotten older (and wiser), I have come to realize when things are not going well in a race, it is perfectly fine to walk for a minute.  I also realized that the speed that I could "run" if I pushed myself through it, would be the same (or less) than fast walking.

Enough about all of that--Once I caught my breath, I flew through the last mile and a half.  My time ended up being 48:17, which put me at a 9:43 pace.  I was extremely happy with that, and so happy when I saw the finish line!

On to Geno-->  He had a fabulous race!  He came in 5th overall (behind some 20 year old college athletes), and ran THE MASTER'S COURSE RECORD! in a time of 26:06!!!!

After the race, he was interviewed by local newspaper....  

Because the college guys were ineligible to receive prize money, Geno was given the $100 for winning the race.  He donated it to the Fund for Boston, benefiting those injured in the Boston Marathon bombings back in April.  Love him!!!!

After the race, we had our obligatory big breakfast at Track's End, located right off of the Riverwalk on Amnicola Hwy.  It was good...not great...but had excellent service and no wait!!!

And because it's Monday, and I love my girls...here are my latest Ipone pics of Beulah and Delta:

Influenster Spring VoxBox!

The nice people at Influenster sent me a VoxBox!  I received it in the mail yesterday.

Inside the box:

It has been a long time since I wore press-on nails (like High School), and I've heard that they've come a long way.  It seems like they are easier to apply, and are supposed to stay in place for a week.  Currently, I have a French manicure (acrylic), so I can't try these out just yet.  Gonna hang on to them though!

Next up, a new flavor of TastyKake:  Peanut Butter!

Geno loves snack cakes, so he tested this one for me!

He said that the peanut butter flavor is good; and that the cake is a little dryer than a Hostess cupcake, but not as dry as a Little Debbie.  He liked it, but didn't go crazy over it.

Next up:  deodorant!  I am excited to try this clear deodorant   I hate it when regular white deodorant gets on my shirt or dress right when I put it on.  This should help with that!

As a side note, I have found that the best way to quickly remove deodorant stains is to iron over it.  I think the heat of the iron burns the deodorant mark away.

This one, I tried this morning before work.  It is "Rough Rubber" made by Osis.  It is available at Ulta, and probably some other places too.  You put it on while your hair is wet.  I dried mine then flat ironed it.  I like that this stuff did not dry sticky, and it made my hair soft and manageable.

"Rough Rubber" hair...

And finally, NYC glossy lip balm.  I put some on this morning (see above photo).  It is like a combination of lipstick and chapstick.  I put it on early this morning (before both breakfast and lunch), and the color has lasted pretty much all day!  Highly recommended...and a good price too!

"I received these products complimentary from Influenster for testing purposes."

Big Beulah!

Our girl Beulah is growing up!  She's approaching 7 months old, and I'm not quite sure how big she is going to get.  We've been taking her on mile long walks/jogs for the last few months; but last week we kicked it up a notch.  She is very good on the leash, so I started taking her on some of my runs.  She's done three miles several times, and even a 4 miler.

Running with her is just easy.  She doesn't look at other dogs, doesn't jump or veer off when other runners approach...It's like I'm running by myself.  Since it's not really affecting my run, I try to take her every chance that I get.  She needs the exercise, and I kind of like having a sidekick.

Delta still gets to go on her afternoon run/walk as well.  She is more of a stopper, dragger, and sniffer; so I really don't like to take her on the longer runs.

Ok...enough dog stuff.  We have a tough 5 mile race coming up on Saturday.  It will be fun, and I'm sure we'll have a big breakfast after it (the most important part of running a race)!

Also...I am ready for "Blog Everyday in May" to be over.  My reader is backing up with look-alike, sound-alike posts, and I am ready for some original content!  Just sayin'.

Here and Now

On Saturday, we ran the King of the Mountain 4 Miler at the top of Lookout Mountain here in Chattanooga.    The course is tough as hell for the first 3 miles, and then has a fast 1 mile downhill finish.  I ran almost two minutes slower than I did two years ago, and came in 10th out of 16 people in my age group.  I was happy with it.  I love a tough course and a good sweat!  My time--> 38:58.

Geno did awesome, as usual.  He came in second overall and first masters.   His time was 21:52.  Dang, I wish I could run that fast!

We spent the rest of the weekend chillin', grillin', and hanging out with our Labrador Retrievers.

Life Is Good!

My go to summer after-dinner dessert:  Bluebunny Fat Free Frozen Yogurt with Sugar Free Chocolate

Syrup and a Reduced Fat Chips Ahoy Cookie crumbled on top.

A Mile in These Boots

Several bloggers, along with We Speak Now are working together to promote the beauty of ALL women...inside and out!

This post is brought to you today by the bolder version of me, the one that wears cowboy boots to work.

I can definitely say that I have had struggles in my life with the way that I look.  Now, at 40 years old, I am finally comfortable with myself.  Finally.

It seems to me that a lot of young girls/ladies are figuring this thing out long before I did...and that is awesome!

I could go all superficial on this one...but why not just put it all out there!  

I think my "beauty" issues started in 6th grade.  Yep, that early!  Prior to 6th grade, I had long, wavy brown hair.  I don't know what happened in 6th grade, but for some reason my hair was cut short, and I got a "tight" perm.  It was horrendous.  I tried out for cheerleader that year, and didn't make it--> In my little mind, it was because my hair made me ugly...(not due to the fact that I had basically no experience in tumbling or dancing).

Keep in mind, we had everything we needed and most stuff that we wanted, but as far as "beauty," our parents thought that we were beautiful just the way that we were!  (And yes, I am sure that I was beautiful in their eyes, but not in MY eyes!). 

In my mid-twenties, I went through about 5 years of an eating disorder.  It ranged from me weighing 134 pounds and binging on everything in sight, to eating basically nothing, and getting down to a very scary 90 pounds.

And do you want to know what finally gave me the ability to see myself as beautiful???

Running!

I won't go into the details of it here, but I started running when I was 29 years old, and it changed my life forever.  It gave me self confidence.  It gave me strength.  It changed my relationship with food to from "comfort" to "fuel."  

Once I finally made peace with food, everything else seemed to fall into place.  I think the most important thing of all is to embrace what YOU think is beautiful and to go for it!  Yes, my hair is dyed blonde.  I like it that way.  Yes, I've had some plastic surgery. It made me curvy...and I've never had a regret about it.  Not ONE!  Yes, I have LOTS of tattoos.  Love those TOO!  Tanning bed...check!  (and yes, I know it's unhealthy, but it's my only vice; so I'll leave it at that).  

All of this is to say, that people love to say that "beauty is on the inside...." and it is!  BUT...and it's a big BUT, if you are not happy with yourself, then it is DANG hard to focus on the inside, because you may be too shy, guarded, or not confidant enough to let the inside shine on the OUTSIDE!

Shine On, my Friends!

Peace out.

They Should Hire Me As a Spokesperson!

Last week, I joined Spotify Premium.  Spotify is an online music service that is similar to Pandora (if you are using the free version).  You type in a song or artist, and then a radio station is created for your listening pleasure...very similar to Pandora, right?

But for $9.99 a month, you can do SO much more!

• Search for songs, artists, albums, etc. and create playlists to add them to. 
• Unlimited songs....that's right....as many as you want!
• You can listen to your songs on up to 3 different portable devices.  (Currently I have all of my playlists on both my Ipod and my phone).
• You can also choose "listen offline" so that you can play your songs without using WiFi AND without using any data from your phone plan.
• Anytime you add or delete a song on one device, it automatically syncs it with your other devices.
• There are hundreds if not thousands of "apps" within the Spotify program.  For instance, one of them is Billboard Top 100.  If you add this free "app," you will have the Top 100 songs on your devices, and they will update each week as the charts change!  How awesome is that!!!!

Ever since I joined the Premium service, I have spread the word about how much I love it.  I think, it's because I had such a love/hate relationship with Itunes.  I would always feel this small sense of euphoria whenever I would get Itunes credit, but then I would stress over every song and album, wondering if it was worth paying for or not.  There are several items that I bought, then later regretted...Taylor Swift anyone?  LOL!

With Spotify, you keep your songs/playlists for as long as you keep the subscription.  Basically, it is like Netflix for music.

As much as I love music, being able to have all of the music that I want at any time is like Christmas every day.

I am not kidding!

This is not a paid advertisement....I am just really passionate about my music, and Spotify has made my hobby THAT much more fun to enjoy!!!