Taking It On: I'm Too Sexy

Showing posts with label I'm Too Sexy. Show all posts

31 December 2012

2012: Making a silk purse out of a sow's ear

The year started out on a low.

First of all, we were burgled in early January. It sucked.

Then there was my health. Perpetually struggling, hurting, and exhausted...I knew something was wrong. While my erratic hip remains somewhat mysterious, medical testing revealed ridiculously low serotonin levels, which explained a large part of the struggle. This information facilitated my climb out of the abyss.

Along my journey to clarity and health, I had some 'bomb' races...Kaiser 5K, Oakland Marathon Relay and Bay to Breakers. The difficult place with regard to my health and these less-than wonderful "race" experiences led me to pull out of two races I had excitedly entered...the Eugene marathon and the San Francisco 1st half-marathon.

I managed to run a lot of hills and frequently on trails, but I wasn't able run very many miles. I did, however, run one mile in less than seven minutes and blew my own mind.

I discovered the Don't Run, Run Faster Training Plan which led to my triple gold medal performance at The Ellimpics and a set of wonderful legs at Hood to Coast as a part of Nuun's Afternuun Delight Team Morning as well as my first female finish on Thanksgiving at the Sonoma 5K Turkey Trot.

The late spring brought some fun recognition. I was chosen again as a BlogHer Voices of the Year honoree (see button in sidebar) and I won a spot on Nuun's Hood to Coast teams...with my "creepy" and "just wrong" video...

The spring also brought my first blog-related paycheck! Building my financial empire one dollar at a time ;-) Other notable firsts this year included: rock climbing, hamsterballing, and sparkle skirts...all of which threw me well out of my comfort zone.

2012 also involved loads of family fun. In addition to trips to the beach and the Space and Science Center and numerous walks by the Bay, we went to the zoo about 142 times...and even saw an elephant penis. Big and exciting stuff, people.

The year has really run the gamut on all levels...physical (as outlined above), emotional, relational, spiritual... It has been a year of great change and opened eyes. I've learned how to better care for myself, the true value of rest and meditation, the importance of compassion and an open heart. My sense of perspective has broadened tenfold or more. So much growth...and so many growing pains. What a year.

I finished my running for the year with donuts and friends.

And I finished my momming for the year at...where else?... the zoo :)

Following these two trajectories, may the coming year be filled with sweetness, love, joy and adventure for us all!

12 April 2012

Finding my happy place...

It's been a really rocky road lately here in XL-land. All of the health issues (most notably serotonin absence and hip pain presence) were really wearing on me. Even as I started to clear up all the 'down', I was still struggling... a lot. Last week, in an endorphin-less haze, I succumbed. To the elliptical.

And it really helped.

Who knew?

Oh, all those people who suggested it? Right.

So last week I started using the elliptical trainers at the gym. Maybe it was the week before, but last week was when I really got serious. (I hope y'all read my sense of humor into that...lately my humor has been too subtle or 'off' so I'm just checking ;-) ) My physical therapist and I had discussed this piece of equipment before. We both agreed that going backward would really help strengthen things that are weak...things that start messing me up when I run. Twice last week, I went backward for 4 minutes and forward for one minute for a total of 25 minutes, and then I hopped on the treadmill for a little bit of sort of running.

This week I stepped things up a couple of notches. 55 minutes on Monday. Wowza. For the first time in I don't even know how long I had a deliciously sweaty and invigorating workout that did not hurt. Did you read that part? Did. Not. Hurt.

Then on Tuesday I decided to go run for a half an hour, and the strangest thing happened. It didn't hurt. Not only that but I was running paces similar to last summer and fall for my runs of similar intensity. It just felt easy and relaxed and fun. And I started to just about cry. My eyes did, in fact, well up with tears. And I was smiling very, very broadly. Part of that might have been due to the music that was playing... and what I now associate with that particular song, but it was largely the familiar-ness of the way I was running. It felt like the good ol' days.

Wednesday I hit up the elliptical again...this time for an hour. Dripping sweat again, and oh-so-satisfying. I may or may not have done the whole singing out loud thing...ummm...yeah, I did it. So embarrassing for everyone.

Thursday I decided to run a hill while my son was at soccer practice. I tried to time it correctly, but I managed to return literally 2 minutes late and the field was empty! I freaked...until I saw him and two other kids goofing around at the far end.

Pretty residential street on the beginning, gentler part of the climb.

Where the steep starts to kick in.

Right before the top.

Today's run elevation profile...

...uphill also discussed here.

Distance: 4.20 miles

Avg. pace: 10:25 min/mile

By now some of you might be thinking...Geez, woman...you run so rarely and so slowly and you're always showing us these crazy hills like you're some kind of something... and if you're thinking that, you may be excused from the table :D And no dessert.

I am so heartened by my workouts this week. It feels amazing to begin to feel like myself again. And this extends to all areas of my life. All of them.

And it's about time. This girl and her siblings deserve a happy, healthy, feeling-good mom. And my husband deserves that 'me' as well.

10 April 2012

I'm Too Sexy for my blog

The music video at the end of this post was created as an entry into a contest.

The prize was a spot on a distance running relay team...

more specifically, Nuun Hydration's Hood to Coast Relay team.

Thanks for stopping by and checking it out :)

Don't go clicking that "play" arrow...

that's a screenshot and no movie will start.

The movie is below :)

I'm a runner
You know what I mean?
I wanna take a little run on the highway.
Yeah, on the highway...
in the relay, yeah...
and I'll drink a little Nuun to rehydrate... (having fulfilled the cutesy quotient...I now give you the reason you're all here)