Just for Fun

Finally, I've started running again. It started out as taking a break because I was sick. Well taking a break quickly turned into habit and then before I knew it, I was actually forgetting to run! *gasp* But I did go out today and I was surprised at how good it felt. I only did a mile because it has been so long and I tried to take it easy, but my legs just didn't want to slow down. It was nice feeling. 

Anyway, Laura, to answer your question, I am not going to give up running, but I'm also going to tone down my running a little bit. I plan to not run everyday of the week but to do some walking on some days. I wouldn't mind doing a race again sometime (maybe not soon, but sometime maybe before the end of the summer), but I'm not going to be one who ends up training for a half marathon or anything. More power to the rest of you but it's not for me. I just want to keep healthy but I also don't want to spend everyday limping around with sore legs. Besides, walking is really great for your heart and lungs. Yes I know running is too, blah blah blah, but I think the feeling of a good brisk walk is very under-appreciated on this site :) 

Anyway, I will look through some pictures of my little guy. I should get a good one of him playing outside. He's a good exerciser too and deserves to be recognized for it :) But I do love that picture. It is an old picture but it is still one of my favorite pictures of him :) 

Went for a walk with Seth and Simeon. Family walks are always fun!

Ugh, it's been a tough week. And it is only Wednesday! But I finally was able to get out today. I just went for a walk because I HATE running with the jogging stroller. If Simeon is good enough today that I still have energy tonight I might try to go out before it gets dark. 

Anyway, we had a nice walk. It was cloudy and a little windy so I made Simeon wear a hat. But it wasn't really cold, just cool.  

It was cold and windy all day today. So I wimped out and stayed inside "waiting for it to warm up." He he. Oops.

I slept fat and long last night. It was beautiful. Seth and I used to split up each night. If Simeon got up before 4 he was Seth's. If he got up after 4 he was mine. But we've started taking turns with whole nights. Last night was Seth's night to get up with Simeon so I didn't have to get up at all. It was beautiful. I was only vaguely aware when Simeon cried.

It was still cold and windy today but not as bad as yesterday. Plus Seth was home early enough that I was able to get out before the wind picked up too much.  Still, running in the wind is never any kind of fun. So it made my run a little bit tough. Also my knee and my ankle were hurting but not very bad.

Seth and I came over to his parents' house this morning because Rebecca and her family are here for a visit. So I just came over in my running clothes so I could run on the ditch bank. So I went out and started walking down to the corner, but I saw that there were dogs out so I turned around to run the other way, towards the dead end. I ran maybe a quarter mile when I saw another dog out. So I just turned and ran back to the house. I haven't used the elliptical in a long time anyway.

So I did 18 minutes on the elliptical. It was actually kind of nice because Ani, my new laptop, fits perfectly on the little book holder thing. So I was able to watch a movie while I exercised. Has anyone ever noticed that books really don't fit in those things? It is so hard to keep a book open that it is almost not worth it. But this worked great! I could even download some books if I wanted to to and it would be way easier than reading on Pete (my PDA). Still, movies are better than books when you are exercising :)
 

Woo hoo! I'm off to a good start this week! I actually got out on Monday! Yea!

I went running down the ditch bank this morning and there were no dogs so that is good. I probably should have let my oatmeal digest a bit more though because I was feeling heavy and sluggish and I had a side ache. I blame the oatmeal.

All in all it was a good run though. It is going to be a beautiful day, maybe a bit on the warm side but I prefer the warm side to the cold side :) 

I ran on the ditch bank again today. It turns out that there was a lady running behind me on the way back. We met up where the ditch intersected a dirt road. I thought she had gone straight because I didn't hear her behind me and she didn't pass me (everyone passes me), but it turns out that she was behind me until the end of my run. It secretly pleased me to know that I ran faster than someone, but I also would have liked to run with her and make a running friend. I will try to go out at the same time next time I go out and see if I can meet up with her again. There are several people who seem to walk at the same time so hopefully she will be out again.

Seth took the car so I took Simeon for a walk around the neighborhood. I figure that is better than procrastinating until Seth gets home and then not going at all because I am too tired by then :) I actually ran for the first .5 mile but running with the jogging stroller is so horrible that I have to build up resistance to it. So I'm definitely starting small. We had a good walk though. Simeon likes outside time and so do I :)

I ran on the ditch bank today. No sign of any potential running friends. I did two miles total but I actually stopped and walked that last half mile because my knee was hurting quite a bit. Hopefully it was just a today thing and it's not going to start acting up. It was a nice day though. No wind. Running in the wind is no fun. Sometimes a breeze is nice but there is a fine line between breeze and wind so it is better to just do without.

So I'm not even going to bother with my night sleep time for last night. I slept so badly that whatever sleep I did get doesn't count. It wasn't Simeon's fault either. He only woke up once. But I had stressful dreams (I had to rescue Jacob Black by eating a very large bowl of chopped green chile with a spoon--I actually woke up feeling sick to my stomach) and my legs were hurting, and it was too hot, and I felt like the bed wasn't big enough, etc, etc. So bad night. And Simeon has been a grumpy face.

Anyway, I needed fresh morning air so I walked Simeon over to Home Depot. We are wanting to put in a sandbox for his birthday but we didn't like the turtle sandbox at Wal Mart so much. The inside seemed too small and the outside seemed to big. So we thought we would look around. It turns out that Home Depot doesn't have sandboxes in yet. The guy at the store told me they would probably get some in two or three weeks. Well Simeon's birthday is in two weeks, and as much as I love to procrastinate, I don't think this one is going to work. So I might stop by Target tomorrow after I go to the temple with my parents. We may just have to go with the turtle (if it'll fit where we want it). 

So Wednesday's blog entry was supposed to be on Thursday. Oops.

Anyway, I was going to go out running after Simeon went to bed last night. While I was putting him to bed I was thinking to myself, "It's still light enough to go running." But I was pretty worn out. I spent the day in the temple with my parents (from 10:30 - 4:00). We did a bunch of family names starting with baptisms. And I was enjoying visiting with them so I didn't go out.

I had a visiting teaching appointment at Denny's this morning and since I had family in town my partner said I didn't have to come along if I was too busy. I also didn't want to go eat at Denny's and leave my company home with cold cereal. So I got up and made waffles this morning and ate with my family. I was hoping to get done around 8:30 and to meet up with Ruth and Candice at Denny's, but we didn't finish eating until 9. So I ran, to Denny's (literally) and they were still there. Jackie was there too but I don't know if she saw me. I waved though. They were just finishing their food but we stayed and chatted for a bit. I'm glad I was able to get in on the visit. Then I ran home.

It's funny, my visiting teaching partner Ruth just thinks it is so amazing that I run, and she is always saying that I run marathons. I keep trying to tell her that a 5k is MUCH different than a marathon and that you'd never catch me running 26 miles, but she still always says "So are you running any more marathons?" Today she told Candice "Kristina runs marathons!" She is so funny. I guess if people want to think I'm a good runner then so be it. Little do they know how terrible I really am :)
 

I don't even know how many times I have gotten online today so I could blog my run, and then got distracted by something else. So now, when it is bedtime, I am very strongly resisting the temptation to look at curtains and I am blogging my run very quickly so I can go to bed.

I ran down the ditch bank like usual and realized that running down the ditch bank like usual is kind of boring. So I go to the road that I say is a mile out and I turned right to go towards Seabell. I figured I could run back along the road for a small change. And I thought it would be the about the same distance because Seabell starts right next to the ditch bank. Well it turns out that Seabell has all kinds of crazy 90 degree curves and stuff in it and it actually seemed to add to my run quite a bit. I was pretty tired. There were times I wondered if I was even on the right road.

But the fun thought that made it worth it is this. There is this green house that is next to the ditch bank. When you run down the ditch bank you see the back of the house, and in the backyard are 2 or 3 really big, really loud, really mean looking Rottweilers. Well running down Seabell road you get to see the from of their house, and in the front yard they have two really small, really fluffy, really yappy dogs. And my thought was, who keeps Rottweilers in their back yard and little fluffy dogs in their front yard?