Because that Shut Up and Run girl said to...

I was hanging out in my green bikini, enjoying Cheetos and NASCAR when I saw that I was tagged.

Thanks, Beth (and Tall Mom!). I know you know that I love these things. Except for all the linking you have to do, they are somewhat cathartic sometimes. Or embarrassing. Or sometimes just boring. Whatever... here it is...

A New Bunch of Random XL Crap in One Tidy, Long-ass Post

Here are the rules:

1. Post these rules
2. You must post 11 random things about yourself
3. Answer the questions set for you in their post
4. Create 11 new questions for the people you tag to answer
5. Go to their blog and tell them you’ve tagged them
6. No stuff in the tagging section about you are tagged if you are reading this. You legitimately have to tag 11 people!

Random Things About Me

1. I love practical jokes...simple or elaborate. 
2. Several times when I was rowing seriously, I skipped Christmas and/or Thanksgiving because Tuesday and Thursday evenings were weight workouts. Some may say "Wowza, XL! That was so hardcore!" And while I think it may have helped me mentally in the years I did that, it really shouts out "Whoa, chick...Get a life!" to me now. 
3. I struggle mightily with self-confidence. One friend in particular has been privy to my psycho, pre-race freak-outs this past year. It is not a pretty thing. 
4. When I was in Cuba for the PanAm Games, we went out for our first row on the course. We were in a pair which is what is called a 'blind' boat (no coxswain and facing backwards so one can't see where one is going). We headed up the course following the prescribed pattern and made our cut across the lanes at the prescribed point. What wasn't prescribed was crashing into a solid, immoveable starting platform. Yeah, I did it. It was my fault since I was steering. Yeah, we broke the brand-new boat...but fortunately the boat-builder was on hand and could fix it by the next day.
5. I have never broken a bone...except my nose...but I have collapsed a lung. I almost died.
6. I paid $8.50 for a dozen eggs last week because I believe that pasture-raised, 'happy' chickens will produce eggs that are better for you. I am a total believer in the energetics of food. They did taste better...even my 6-year old said so.
7. I pulled Q-Man's teeth out this week with my bare hands. They were his first two teeth to lose and were each dangling by a root. He was sick of them annoying him while he ate, so he asked me to pull them out. I obliged. It was a bloody mess.
8. I used to be able to do 15 pull-ups in 45 seconds. Now I can't even do one. I should get back on that.
9. I tried out for American Gladiators while pregnant. I didn't make the cut.
10. I f*ucking HATE ants. We are in the middle of dealing with a horrendous infestation. I f*ucking HATE ants. They warrant the f-word.
11. One of the stupidest things I have ever done is to hike down the Schilthorn (a big mountain in Switzerland) in the snow while pregnant and carrying a 5-year old in a frame-pack on my back. With a funky hip. We made it. It took us 6.5 hours to complete what was supposed to be a 2-hour hike. 

Beth's Questions for Me:

1. In five words or less, tell me your most embarrassing moment. Indoor balcony, vomiting, people below.
2. What’s one habit you need to break? Staying up too late...this was my New Years Resolution :(
3. What’s your favorite book of all time?  I have lots of favorites...Miss Rumphius is one. Joy Luck Club, Gone With the Wind, Pillars of the Earth, Les Misérables, Shibumi...and more.
4. Have you ever cheated on a test or a partner (don’t need to tell me which one)? Yes, sort of.
5. If you weren’t doing your current job, what would be your profession? Highly-paid creative genius whose talents are sought after by many.
6. Do you think Bob Harper is gay? No. He's secretly hoping that everyone is asking that question though.
7. What’s the best compliment you’ve ever received? My acupuncturist told me she'd want me in her lifeboat because I am the most resourceful survivor-type she has ever met.
8. Would you be able to run further or faster? Some days it's one, some days it's the other. If you make me pick one right now I'll say "faster."
9. What food gives you gas? Broccoli and garlic...either on their own or together.
10. Ever done a cleanse or had a colonic? Yes, both.
11. What’s your dream marathon? Even though it's only 23 kilometers, I'm going with the Napoleon Run in Corsica. 

Mel's Questions for Me...   

1. What is your favorite season for running and why? here in California I love running in the summer because it is cool. When I lived in Philadelphia, I loved running in the fall. I'm a cool weather runner :)
2. If you could meet any famous person, who would it be and why? Living – Steve Martin or Robin Williams. Both strike me as very intelligent, sensitive, insightful people who would also be a ton of fun to hang out with.
3. What is your mantra, favorite quote, and/or words you live by? 

   Everything will be all right in the end. If it's not all right, then it's not the end.

4. If you could have ANY ONE ITEM for free, what would it be? a new mattress.
5. How did your parents come up with your name? I am named after my paternal grandmother.
6. Do you collect anything? If so, what? Yes. One thing I collect is little cars from the Pixar/Disney movie "Cars."
7. How did you meet your significant other? we met at work and it was love at first sight.
8. If you could go on vacation anywhere in the world, where would it be and why? Côte d'Azur in France. It is beautiful and warm and friendly and interesting and I love it there.
9. What is your favorite fruit and vegetable? fruit – a perfect peach. vegetable – spinach!
10. What is your favorite color? Dark and brilliant green.
11. What is the first thing that comes to your mind when you think of me (Tall Mom)? amazingly and genuinely NICE... you're what my husband calls 'good people'...I am so glad to have met you in person :)

11 Questions for New Tag-ees...

1. What is your 'comfort food'?
2. Do you exercise better when you are angry or happy?
3. Have you ever done anything to the point of puking? What?
4. Any embarrassing nicknames in your past? Spill it.
5. Guilty movie pleasure?
6. Do you like or dislike these tagging memes?
7. Why do you run? (might seem like a stupid question, but I'm curious)
8. Would you rather be rich or famous?
9. If you could go anywhere tomorrow without any worries (everything would be taken care of perfectly for the duration) where would you go, 
10. with whom and 
11. for how long?

People Tagged  (yes, I realize my tag-ees are all women...well, except Kovas) :

1. Ali Mc...Running with Spatulas
2. TriMOEngr...Climbing those hills...
3. Michelle...Running with Attitude
4. Hiker Mom
5. Jess...who gets large numbers of people to run with her through cemeteries
6. Jolene (who I see was already tagged...so she's off the hook...go read about her!)
7. A So-Called Runner, Courtney
8. Nicole, who is Becoming a Mother Runner
9. Jamie...Chosen Chaos
10. Just Keep Running
11. Kovas who keeps two blogs...this one and that one.

If you've already been tagged, you don't need to do this again. But would you put a link to your tag post in a comment so we can read all about you? Thanks!

P.S. This is NOT like a chain-letter. Nothing bad will happen to you if you blow it off. So don't worry :)

Body Image

I wasn't there when this picture was taken and haven't asked for the real story behind the image. She's only 9, so I don't think she is all kinds of head-hangin' sad because her body doesn't look like that thong model.

I think it's because she just finished her ice cream and daddy said, "no" to more.

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And in case you missed the "Vag Off"... you can check it out here (SUAR) and here (XLMIC).

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As part of my Granny's Gadgets presentation yesterday, I opened up a Gadget Challenge! Read more here.... *click*

Synchronized Carpet Swimming...

it's going to be all the rage. As soon as this video goes viral...

As a means of boosting entries in this giveaway at one of my most favorite blogs, we were offered the option of submitting a photo of ourselves showing off our favorite swimming moves.

Never one to turn down an opportunity to thoroughly publicly humiliate my children... and myself creative challenge, I put on my thinking cap. I realized now that I am all glam thanks to my DIY nose job on Sunday, I needed to show the more glam side of swimming.... which is, of course, synchronized swimming. Fancy suits, sparkly things in one's hair, make-up... glam.

I suited up and forced asked the kids to do the same. We grabbed our goggles and headed for... dangit, a little too late for the pool as it was already after bedtime... the living room.

Carpet swimming, pioneered by the same SUAR putting on the giveaway that I want to win, is not as easy as it looks. For example

• if you have sensitive skin, the carpet might be too itchy (that is why there is a blanket under Big G... aka Mr. Sensitivity). 
• Unless your goggles are on super tight, the friction of the carpet might rip them off your head, pulling out hair (my Spiderman goggles did this in practice, so I tightened those suckers down). 
• You might find that the furniture makes some of your moves awkward... it works best to move everything out of the way... I forgot this. 

But all in all, the experience will leave you quite invigorated, if not from the activity itself, then from the intense laughing fit it produces.

My other idea was the Going-Nowhere-Fast Triathlon... carpet swim, stationary bike, treadmill run.

Booooorrrriiiinnnnnnnggggg!

The glam option is way more fun.





Maybe I'll get some real synchronized swimmer-like sparkly hair doo-dads for MY BIRTHDAY TOMORROW....
Maybe I should say that one a little louder...and while we're on the subject... I am hoping to wake up tomorrow and see three digits of 'likers' on my Facebook page in honor of my birthday. Still need 14 more. Have you clicked yet?

A little French lesson...

As today is Mardi Gras and tomorrow is mercredi...

which means french-ish musique here at Taking It On... 

I have been thinking in French... 

well, not really... 

but thinking about French and realizing that probably only Caroline, SUAR and Noémie have a clue as to what most of these songs are saying... 

well, except that one by Pink Martini which had all those educational tools to help you out.

So here is a little french lesson for ya.

Note that it is family guy and if family guy humor offends you, you might want to just skip this ;-)  Remember... french is classy!




And if you missed my kids' back-to-back birthdays, you can check out their supercutenesses here for my magic baby, Miss C, and here to see Mr. Awesome, Q-Man.  And later today I'll try to get up the story of Miss C ice skating on her birthday... complete with pictures and video!  

Do you speak French?  Another language with any sort of proficiency?
– I took French a lot in the past.  I can get by but am not fluent by any stretch of the imagination.  I also dabble in Italian, Spanish and German but cannot really hold a conversation in any of those three.

What language do you wish you could speak fluently?
– too many to pick just one!  Like Big G says almost every day  "I wish I could speak, read and write every language in the universe!"

My Longest Run... since having kids

Yesterday I finally got that 8-miler done.  She was a bit squirrelly... but nuttin' I couldn't handle ;-)

The pace was supposed to be "maintenance," which for me is supposed to be 10:00/mile.  As you can see from the numbers below, I was kind of all over the place... that's why I used the adjective squirrelly.  And I must say that I don't really know for certain if those times were taken at certifiable mile marks because I went off of googlemaps and sort of fudged where to gauge the miles would be.  It was an out and back, so I was noticeably quicker over the same distances on the trip out.

This is the farthest I have run since November of 2001.  My legs are feeling it.  At this point in my fitness and life, 8 miles now warrants an ice bath.  Wish I had realized that when I finished the run :P  

The best news is ... my hip did not hurt.  did. not.  Super YAY!  It is feeling stiff and sore now, but no pain at all while running.  I almost cried when I finished... partly because of the no pain, partly because it has been so long since I have run that far, and partly because I was super hungry.  I had to leave before breakfast in order to get the run in before my husband needed to go out for the day.

Yeah, when you are lolling about in bed thinking you have a cush life while your husband makes everyone breakfast, it is a sharp jolt of reality when he comes in to announce that he needs to leave soon so you'd better a get a move on if you're going to fit that run in.  Soon?  How soon?  Like "exactly as long as it takes to throw on the clothes and do the run" soon.  No brekkie... No potty...

As most of you know, running really gets things moving...  I think that is partly why my first half was faster.  I was racing to the portapotty at the turnaround.  I realized I was going to need that bad boy pretty early on in the run. It became my focus... my goal.  Even though it meant running an extra 0.1 mile ;-)  Thankfully, it was still where I had remembered it to be.  And even more thankfully, it was not too nasty.  And it had paper!

Unfortunately, my 'needs' were complicated by another factor.  Let's just say that I am really glad I didn't listen to that ShutUpandRun girl and wear my green bikini even though I was having my period.  If any guys have made it this far, I am sorry if you are grossed out or uncomfortable... but this is what we women deal with.  You have no idea how hard it is to not lose your tampon when you are trying to take a dump... especially in a portapotty.  And speaking of tampons... I am so annoyed... my favorite brand has been discontinued!  As I was lamenting this fact this morning, my husband suggested I look for an online forum that might help me deal with this loss.  He thinks he's so funny sometimes.

These are my rockin' splits from my X-Treeemly long run:

9:25
9:50
9:43
9:54
10:15  – post-poo... I think everything was readjusting...
10:02
9:56
10:08  – I hit my Wall at 7.8 miles... I almost stopped... I think it was lack of food more than anything
______
1:19:13 total time (this factors in the 2:40 potty break... I always subtract those)




Now I get to go grocery shopping with my kids... o, yay.  This is bound to be exciting, and I'll tell you all about it later ;-)  What makes it all extra exciting is that they are off for 10 days.  TEN days... in a row... right now.  You know better than to get me started on their school and days off.