from the children

"My grandma treats Mommy like a child!"

"Oh really?"

"Yeah!"

"Who told you that?"

"Uh...."

Last day at the daycare today.

winners

We run because it makes us feel like winners, no matter how slow or how fast we go.
-Florence Griffith Joyner and John Hanc, Running for Dummies

FloJo says I'm a winner. Woohoo! Yesterday during my run I tried to haul ass and go a faster pace for the last few laps, but my Nike+ says I was running slower than usual. I took an unusal break in the middle, so maybe that was it. I don't know. It was really frustrating because I kept trying to go faster and the Nike+ felt like it was off. I average about a 10:45 mile, including going faster and slower, but not by much. I'm usually between 10:30 and 11:15. Yesterday at one point, I had a 12:00 pace. What? For actually trying to run faster, it didn't recognize that at all.

I'm faster than I used to be a year ago, which is great. I've realized that running faster means I can cover a larger distance in the same amount of time. Logically makes sense, but it's nice to know I can bang out a two mile run in a bit over 20 minutes.

Here's my workout schedule from this week:
4/5 - run 20 minutes, weights
4/6 - run 27 minutes (2.55 miles)
4/7 - bike 30 minutes
4/8 - run 23 minutes (2.07 miles), weights, DDPP 80 minutes
4/9 - probably bike 30 minutes today

On Saturday, the suggested training has a 2 mile run, but I think I might try to do a 5k distance just to see what kind of time I'd get.

Um.... the end.

accidentally training

I've been planning on running the Bellin Run 10k for awhile now; I was tossing around the idea of entering a triathalon but I think I will have to save that for another year. I don't think I can financially afford all of the expenses/upgrades that I would need for that. I have a pair of running shoes, so I'm pretty sure I can swing the Bellin.

I accidentally ran it last year. When I say accidentally, I mean I started with the mindset that I'd run until I got tired, walk a little, then run the rest of the way. Well, I got to mile 4, was feeling good and just kept going. The last quarter mile was about the point my body rebelled against me; I puked during the last block of the race. After puking I kept running though, so whatever.

I mapped out my training for the next few months. I've been logging my exercising just for fun recently. I kind of like seeing it all written out like that. It's on a calendar I keep in a filing cabinet at work, which is where I usually work out. I like having April and May printed off already with my anticipated training written and highlighted. Of course, there's space for what I'll actually do too.

Here's my log from February and the first week of March:
2/2 - run 2 miles, weights
2/3 - run 1 mile, bike 28 minutes mid-high intensity
2/4 - DDPP 1 hour (Dance Dance Party Party)
2/7 - run 2 miles, bike 20 minutes mid intensity
2/8 - run 1 mile, bike 20 minutes
2/10 - run 1.5 miles
2/11 - DDPP 80 minutes
2/17 - bike 30 minutes low intensity
2/18 - bike 25 minutes low intensity
2/19 - run .5 miles, bike 20 minutes mid intensity
2/20 - run/walk 5 miles
2/23 - run 1.5 miles, weights
2/24 - bike 25 minutes
2/25 - bike 25 minutes
3/1 - run 1 mile, bike 30 minutes mid-high intensity
3/2 - bike 30 minutes mid intensity, weights
3/3 - run 1 mile, bike 30 minutes
3/4 - DDPP 60 minutes
3/5 - run .5 mile, bike 30 minutes
3/8 - run 20 minutes, weights

Can you tell when I felt a little sick this past month? (See 2/17 - 2/19) I've been working out pretty consistantly since mid January and I can tell a difference. I get lethargic in the afternoon if I don't exercise; my mind gets fuzzy and I'll waste time online without doing any work. Might as well be doing something productive with that time. My muscles feel stronger and more pronounced in places. I don't exercise with the intention of losing weight but to generally be healthier. I think it's working.

And now, some quotes from my kids:

D: I have to go to the dentist.
Me: Why?
D: I have a booger I have to get out.

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D: Your arm looks like a cookie.
(I have lots of freckles/birth marks on my arms)

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E: Clowns are disgusting because they chew with their mouths open.

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Words from the wise, friends.

safely insane

"Dreaming permits each and every one of us to be quietly and safely insane every night of our lives." - William Dement

via Brain Rules

4 year old land

Me: On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the best movie ever and 1 being the worst, where would you put The Princess and The Frog?
Annabelle: In my pocket!

Me: What's your favorite type of meat?
Dana: Marshmallows!

my children

A bit from my 4 year old co-workers:

David*: I watched a movie and a boy got a BB gun for Christmas!
Me: Did he shoot his eye out?
David stares at me for 10 seconds, then: How did you KNOW that?!?

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Eliza*: Did you know that George Washington was a friendly ghost?
Me: Oh, really?
Eliza: A friendly ghost who teaches kids how to color!

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Jason*: How do I look today? (strikes a pose)
Me: Good.
Jason: Cool?
Sara*: Handsome.
(Jason wiggles about)



*Instead of calling them random child, I'm starting to use psuedonyms. I only work with so many kids and sometimes the same kid says funny stuff repeatedly.

who i am and what i need

I enjoy these. Especially this one:

…who I am, and what I need, these are things I have to find out myself.
—Chinua Achebe, writer

Also, yesterday I hula-hooped for longer than I had in probably 15 years. It was fun.

let go

“Each of us is always a child of God. In our brokenness, we are called to forgive so that we may be forgiven. The act of forgiving, of giving up the demand for vengeance, is an act of transcendence. To let go of the anger is to let go of some of the pain.” - Robin Theurkauf

holiness

"We are to find God in what we know, not in what we don't know; God wants us to realize [God's] presence, not in unsolved problems but in those that are solved. That is true relationship between God and scientific knowledge, but it is also true of the wider human problems of death, suffering and guilt."
- Dietrich Bonhoeffer

"If holiness is happening, it is happening in the thick of reality, not replacing the world as we know, not banishing death, but defying its terror as the last word."
- Krista Tippett, Speaking of Faith

orientation towards perfection

Some readers find a point of vulnerability in what they take to be religion’s flaccid, Polyanna-like, happy-days optimism. Religious people, says Delphinias, live their lives “in a state of blissfully blind oblivion.” They rely on holy texts that they are “to believe in without question.” (C.C.) “No evidence, no problem — just take it on faith.” (Michael) They don’t allow themselves to be bothered by anything. Religion, says Charles, “cannot deal with doubt and dissent,” and he adds this challenge: “What say you about that, Professor?”

What I say, and I say it to all those quoted in the previous paragraph, is what religion are you talking about? The religions I know are about nothing but doubt and dissent, and the struggles of faith, the dark night of the soul, feelings of unworthiness, serial backsliding, the abyss of despair. Whether it is the book of Job, the Confessions of St. Augustine, Calvin’s Institutes, Bunyan’s “Grace Abounding to The Chief of Sinners,” Kierkegaard’s “Fear and Trembling” and a thousand other texts, the religious life is depicted as one of aspiration within the conviction of frailty. The heart of that life, as Eagleton reminds us, is not a set of propositions about the world (although there is some of that), but an orientation toward perfection by a being that is radically imperfect.

- Stanley Fish, God Talk pt 2