First Day of School

New shoes. Backpacks. Notebooks, paper, pens, and the list goes on and on. Oh the things we need to send children to school in America.

For the first time since hitting school age Lindsey was less-than-thrilled with the start of school. Usually she can't wait and is excited to meet her new teacher, see her friends again, and learn. But this year, when Sunday night rolled around and she realized school was really starting the next day, she burst into tears.

"I thought the summer would last longer!" she wailed.

Me too, kiddo. But it is indeed time, and so we picked out our outfits, set out new backpacks and got a good night's sleep.

Marissa couldn't wait. She was excited to be in 2nd grade and was so happy to meet her teacher, who also happened to have been Lindsey's 2nd grade teacher. She couldn't wait to find out who would be in her class, where she would sit, and be all the way on the second floor of the two-story building, where only the 2nd graders go.

During the open house we realized that she and a good friend of hers were seated right next to each other, with no one else at the table. Her friend's mother and I both happened to mention to the girls' teacher (independently, ironically) that we were taking bets on how quickly they would be separated. After arriving home Marissa let me know that the room had been re-arranged a bit, and her one friend wasn't at her table anymore, but now two different friends were, so it was still okay. Hmmm....we'll see how often Marissa gets moved this year as compared to last.

I didn't realize until the girls put their backpacks on that they both had picked out first day of school outfits that matched their backpacks that we had bought earlier in the summer. Marissa happened to match her backpack exactly.

I wonder where they get their love of patterns.

And look! My tripod actually works! How sweet to finally get a photo of our entire family on the first day of school.

Fitness Challenge: Another Challenger's Story

For as much fun as I've been having on this fitness challenge, I have to tell you a little bit about someone else who has been on this journey. She's been at it a lot longer than I have, and she recently completed a challenge that at one time she couldn't ever see herself taking on, much less finishing.

My sister began her fitness journey two summers ago after my daughter, at the age of 4, said some pretty mean things to her about how big she was. I was appalled at what Marissa had said, apologized profusely, and admonished Marissa that we shouldn't talk to people about their weight. Kristi took it in stride and said, "She's just being honest."

Summer 2010.

It was the wake-up call she needed.

She began working out at Curves and watching what she ate. She didn't go on a diet per se, but because she was working out so much she WANTED to eat well. Who wants to work that hard only to put it all back on?

She started shedding weight, toning up, and dropping sizes. She finally had to go down a size in her scrubs, the most adjustable of uniforms, because her pants threatened to fall off at work.

Curves started not being enough of a workout for her, so she added running to the mix, and last year ran her first 5k. She moved from Curves to Crossfit to continue her fitness journey. Crossfit is a workout of constantly varied movement at high intensity, from push-ups to dead lifts and pull-ups. It's completely scalable so that anyone at any fitness level can take it on. She's deadlifted 135 pounds and can do overhead presses of 75 pounds. Wow.

In the meantime, she continued with her running and began eyeing a 10k, when something else caught her eye:

The Warrior Dash.

By this time, she felt like a warrior. She had conquered that little voice in so many of our heads (especially women) that says "You can't" or "You aren't strong enough." Her voice started saying, "You can. You are capable. You are strong. Get out there!"

And then summer happened, with a long, awesome vacation to Upper Michigan to visit our cousins. When she wasn't working she was traveling, visiting family and indulging in good, home-cooked meals in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Arkansas and elsewhere.

Kristi had taken a 5-week hiatus from working out when she came to visit in mid-July and ran the Color Run with us. With the Warrior Dash in just four short weekends after her visit with us, she got down to business when she arrived back home in Indiana.

On the day of the race I was excited and nervous for her from 500 miles away, especially because she was doing this alone. She hadn't found anyone else willing to take this on with her, and that extra encouragement can sometimes go a long way in a challenge like this. I was hoping that it went well. She called me after she completed the course, crying.



Before the Warrior Dash

Leaping over fire.

At the finish line!

"It was easy," she practically sobbed. She couldn't believe it. It was EASY.

This from the woman who, two years earlier, needed to use both arms to push herself out of bed in the morning.

Now she's addicted. Screw that 10k, who wants to just run when you can run, climb, pull, crawl and leap? She's signed up for the Warrior Dash here in Minnesota in a few weekends, and this time a team of 3 or 4 others are joining her.

I can't say enough how proud I am of her far she's come. What a warrior!

State Fair Trip

We're on 12 years and counting, why stop now?

One day I'm going to be one of those people they interview on the local news when State Fair time hits. You know, those old-timers who haven't missed a state fair since 1949, or 1954, or something like that.

We're on 12 years and counting, babies, toddlers, and now grade schoolers included.

This year was probably the best in a long time, with no fights and no meltdowns. We were smart about taking the girls in different directions when wishes/needs were different, instead of forcing the four of us to stay together. Technology had a bit to do with that. This year I downloaded the MN State Fair app on my iTouch, and even though I didn't have a connection or GPS so it couldn't tell me where I was every second of the visit, it could tell me where things were that we wanted to see, and I could look to see where we were standing at the time.

Lindsey: "I want cheese curds. Let's get some!"

Me: "Good idea! Let me see. We're standing at the corner of Judson and Carnes, the closest cheese curd stand is at Judson and Nelson, just two blocks that-a-way. Let's go."

Two minutes later...

Lindsey: "Thanks for the cheese curds, Mom! You're the best!"

Okay, so my writing sometimes toes the line between fiction and non-fiction.

But it was incredibly handy for me, the direction-impaired one. I usually get so twisted around that by the end of the day Wayne has to lead us to the exit because I have no idea which direction we're even walking. Since I was able to check the map frequently and get a sense of where I was at, I was never lost.

Wayne and the girls visited the sheep (including cousin Rachel's, though we hadn't coordinated to see them while we were there), the horses and other animals while I parked the car. Then we met up and hit some of our favorite food stands, including Sweet Martha's Cookies, where they'll pile so many cookies into a paper cone that you have to walk carefully until you eat the first two off the pile or they'll slide off.

The Giant Slide was the hit that it always is.

A new attraction for us this year was the Mr. Bubbles bubble foam pit, where the girls were covered head to toe in bubbles. They used hand-held showerheads to rinse it off before continuing on, and it was just the cool down they needed to keep going on this hot day. I don't know if they've had this other years and we've just never seen it, but it was a big hit with the kids, not just ours.

After the Bubbles were done, completely and utterly wet from head to toe.

We spent some time at the Kidway but not as much as other years. I went on the "Lady Bug" ride with Marissa, which is just a line of cars that go around in a circle and slightly up and down. A barker tells people to scream to make it go faster, and eventually he makes it go backwards. She and I laughed and laughed, looking at each other and grinning our ears off. The lights of the ride glittered off her grey eyes -- she was so filled with joy, I just wanted to hug her but couldn't because we were spinning so fast. What a hoot.

We finished the day with a couple of special purchases for the girls, a beer for mom and dad, and a bucket of Sweet Martha's Cookies to take home.

So maybe some of the cookies got eaten before we left...

The best part about going to the fair for me is that everyone is so dang friendly. They don't call this state "Minnesota Nice" for nothing. Lindsey made a friend in line for a ride at the Kidway who went on two rides with her, and the girl's grandma used two of their own tickets to get Lindsey on the second ride since we had just run out of tickets. People in lines for food joked with each other, and the service people were friendly everywhere we went. I wore my "Vote NO" shirt supporting the LGBT community, and had people comment all over saying they liked my shirt, or if I knew where the booth was for that organization. I also saw the booth for the opposite side of that ballot issue, which had a big banner over it which said, "Marriage is for One Man and One Woman." I was tempted to stand in front of it, or go up and ask for information, but I resisted the urge.

My husband really IS a rock star!

The great Minnesota get-together was great once again.

A Small Kindness

With Wayne gone running the Ragnar race, the girls and I went out to eat for dinner. They could choose anywhere they wanted to go, and they chose Old Country Buffet, after having been there once on a summer outing.

Glurgh.

But they both really wanted to go, and so we went.

I hadn't been to an Old Country Buffet in nearly 20 years and it didn't take me long to remember why. Most of the foods were deep-fried. There were three different kinds of potatoes, but only one option for vegetables; overly-steamed broccoli that looked completely unappetizing.

Lindsey loaded up her plate with carbs -- mashed potatoes with gravy, rice and a dinner roll. But then she hit the salad bar. Twice. Marissa did the same, choosing spinach over iceberg lettuce as the basis of her salad.

Lindsey the photographer at OCB.

Now I know what my face looks like when I tell Lindsey to put away the camera.

As we sat eating I noticed we were attracting the attention of an elderly woman at the next table. We had seen her walking to and from the buffet several times. She could not stand upright and was hunched over so far that she was only a few inches taller than Lindsey. She wore a fushia broomstick skirt and matching top, with a stylish hat like the ones black women wear to church, and a shiny scarf wrapped around her hair underneath. At one point she had three plates of food in front of her and she systematically ate her way through them. She wasn't incredibly overweight, so I speculated that perhaps this was her only meal of the day.

At one point she commented to me, "Your girls are such good eaters! Look at all the choices they have and they choose salad. I don't know many kids who eat salad." I smiled and thanked her for her kind words.

As we were getting up to leave, she motioned Lindsey over to the table. She started digging in her purse for something, and I approached the table, wondering what she was searching for. 

She pulled out four dollar bills, and gave two to each of the girls. I protested, but she said she wanted to reward them both for being such healthy eaters.

I could tell that I would insult her if I protested too strongly, so I thanked her and told her we would make sure we used the money to help others. She nodded in agreement and smiled. "That would be wonderful."

It was only $4, but I could not believe her generosity and the simple behavior she wanted to reward. We talked in the car on the way back home, and the girls agreed that they want to use the money to help others.

We will be spending the next few days or week looking for ways to "pay it forward," using the money they were given just for eating salad.

What No Doctor Can Diagnose

Image from Michelle's Heart Songs

The father of a friend of mine was recently diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor. The doctors went so far as to give him just a few months to live, something that you don't hear doctors say often.

Why don't doctors say that anymore? Because every once in a while, someone proves them wrong.

Doctors can diagnose all kinds of physical maladies -- tumors, disorders, diseases, malfunctioning organs that require dialysis or blood transfusions. What they cannot measure or see is the strength of the human spirit and a person's will to live.

I have known people who were diagnosed with stage IV breast cancer and are still living -- cancer free -- 20 years later.

I also know someone who was given an 80% survival rate but managed to be in the 20% who didn't survive his particular form of cancer.

My aunt was diagnosed with lung cancer, which moved to her brain, to her kidneys...and seven years after her initial diagnosis she finally succumbed to the disease. I believe that anyone else would not have survived the first treatment, much less battled on for seven more years. She lived to meet two of her grandbabies before leaving this world, something she would have missed had she not possessed such an indomitable spirit.

I am thinking of my friend and his family, and hoping that the doctors are wrong, because they cannot measure this man's will to live, or the strength of his family which surrounds him.

Fitness Challenge: Week Six

It isn't all daisies and roses, is it? Or should I say, push-ups and dumbbells?

I have to admit, my week six of my fitness challenge looks an awful lot like life before I ever started the fitness challenge. Sure, I did one "Insanity:Asylum" workout. Sure, I got up a couple of mornings and got 10 miles of skating in. But that's only one workout more than I used to do before I did this fitness challenge.

The one constant has been my Shakeology shakes for lunch, but otherwise, I completely and utterly fell off the wagon this week.

And guess what: it happens.

What I've learned from this challenge group is that any effort is more than no effort. We all could spend our time berating ourselves for indulging in ice cream, or choosing to sleep in instead of working out. Or, we could just put it behind us and commit to do better tomorrow.

Because that's all any of us have, isn't it -- tomorrow.

That friend I was writing about that I met at the Minnesota Half marathon? She and I have been in touch and she is looking to set a PR at the North Shore Inline Marathon this fall, and wants to skate with me to make it happen. Her PR though, is a whole 20 minutes faster than my marathon last year. Do you know how much faster you have to go to make up 20 minutes in a marathon?

A lot. That's the most I can quantify it without having a calculator handy.

So now I have a new motivation. She and I are going to get together to train a couple of times, and she's recommended a place that has inline skating lessons for people like me who know how to stand upright and know how to stop, just need some pointers on technique.

I've got five more weeks to make it happen. As Tim Gunn would say, "Make it count."

A Vacation From Parenting

Those of us who are parents all live it -- parenting is a 24-hour-a-day job. The pay is next-to-nothing, the demands are outrageously high. And there is no such thing as a vacation.

Unless you ship your kids off to grandma and grandpa's for a week, that is.

And when you do, oh heavens! The ideas of things you want to do while you aren't tied down!

At first, visions of all the projects I would complete danced through my head. Things like organizing a closet, purging old clothes, painting a bedroom.

Those things never get done when kids are around because really, who would turn down a 6-year-old who wants to go biking and instead choose to clean the dust out of a bathroom vent? I know I don't make those choices, because some day that 6-year-old will be asking for the car keys and driving to her friend's house and I'll have all the time in the world to tackle that clogged vent. (Which, by the time she's 16, will really need attention.)

Our children have been at my parents' house since Sunday, when we met them midway between our house and theirs, and transferred kids, suitcases, bikes and toys to their car. Wayne and I drove home and had an actual conversation, while music we chose played in the car.

We arrived home and had to...do whatever we wanted. Which, for me, meant sitting in the backyard with a Kindle and a glass of wine, to read a book uninterrupted. Uninterrupted, I tell you, what a miraculous thing!

Our plans for this week include:

1. Having both of us leave the house early in the morning to go skating or running, without needing to coordinate so that one person is home in case a child awakens early.
2. Going out to dinner without having to pay a babysitter and without having to watch the time to make sure we're home by the time we told her we would be. 
3. Eating dinner whenever we feel like it.
4. Going to an industry networking event without having the other parent be on parent-duty.
5. Using the effenheimer to add emphasis to a sentence without having to first check for the presence of children.

There is a little homesickness going on in Wisconsin, and hopefully keeping in touch via Facetime throughout the week helps.

From our standpoint, we are realizing that we don't do this often enough, and we are enjoying a much-needed break from parenting.

Thanks, Mom and Mark.

Fitness Challenge, Week 5: The Race

So like I was telling you before I was rudely interrupted by a Shakeology commercial break, fitness is absolutely no fun at all.

Nope, not having a good time. None whatsoever.

On Saturday I skated the duathlon as a part of the Minnesota Half Marathon event. I skated 13.1 miles, followed by a 2.8 mile run. (I thought it was a full 5k, but the way the course laid out it was only 2.8 miles.)

This was my first race on my new skates -- it's the day after the race and I still have a swollen bump on my left foot where the skate wasn't quite right. But still, I managed to pull off a PR on the half marathon portion, finishing in 55 minutes 18 seconds, or about 14 mph. The woman in the photo above is someone I met at the starting line and we skated most of the race together, drafting back and forth until I lost her the last couple of miles. We exchanged contact info and hopefully will get together to train for the NorthShore Inline marathon, which we're both doing this fall.

At one point in the race the course does a 180-degree turn, and the hills you just went up become the hills you go down. We had just climbed a long hill when we got to the turn, and promptly got to go back down that same hill. As we were chugging our way up, a long train of people drafting were coming down it on the other side. Over the sounds of people clapping and volunteers warning of the turn, I heard a person who was already on the downhill side let out a "YEEEEE HAWWWW!"

And that pretty much sums it up.

Going that fast on skates is thrilling. I was grinning the whole way down, and the momentum from the downhills would push me through the uphills.

Seriously, why isn't this sport more popular?!

The challenge was in transitioning to the run. My dear friend Gianna was there to cheer me on, and I took the transition as an opportunity to take a short break, catch my breath and grab a quick bite since I could feel my body craving fuel. Others came in and out of the transition area while I was still there and when I finally headed out on the run my legs were Jell-o. "What have I gotten myself into?" I thought to myself. And the funny part is, running felt so SLOW after skating, that I found myself speeding past all the half-marathoners who were out on the course. After a while I realized I was running at an unsustainable pace (for me), so I slowed it down. But still, I finished at a 10-min pace, faster than I've ever run any other 5k.

This after skating a half marathon. Which only goes to show you -- it's all mental.

I finished with another duathlon completer, and we exchanged congratulations. Then he said to me, "Man, it's hot out there when you're running! I don't know how those runners do a half marathon like that." And this was on a relatively cool day, compared to the prior year.

Which tells me that the grass is always greener on the other skate. Or something like that.

A few minutes after finishing. I am sweaty but happy!

After a shirt change and meeting Wayne after his finish.

To sum it up, I had a ball, I made a new friend, and I beat my husband by 2 minutes in skating a half and then running 2.8 miles, including an unusually long transition time. (I'll know better next year!) And he ran a damn good half-marathon, finished in 1:32. I got to see him finish his race as well, which was also awesome.

We ended the adventure with a lunch out with other members of the Minnesota Running Wild team, which was, like the rest of the day, not enjoyable in the least.

All before 10 o'clock in the morning.

Like I said, fitness is not fun.

Fitness Challenge: Week Four

Before I began this challenge I already was physically active, running, skating and doing other activities. While adding more workouts to this has stepped up my game, the other element is the Shakeology shakes that I've added, and I think that combination has been the perfect addition for me.*

I used to eat a frozen entree for lunch at work every workday and was usually hungry two hours later. Two hours later is also "chocolate o'clock," when my craving for chocolate hits an all-time high. Between 2:00 and 3:00 every afternoon you could find me trolling the office for chocolate, and if there wasn't any to be had from a co-worker's desk I would inevitably hit the vending machine for a chocolate fix. After ingesting 210 to 240 calories and 30 grams of sugar, I'd hit a second sugar low around the time I left to go home. Yawn.

Now I have a chocolate shake for lunch, usually with a little something added in like a banana or peanut butter and honey. I blend it up in the morning, put it in the frig at work and sip on it at my usual lunch hour. It is surprisingly filling -- so much so that two hours later, when chocolate o'clock hits, I'm not really hungry. And...I've already had my chocolate fix for the day.

I don't feel bloated and I don't get the tired afternoon blahs I used to get.

Oh yeah, and if you blend that peanut butter and honey with the chocolate shake, it's like drinking a Reeses' Peanut Butter Cup, I kid you not. It's really yummy. Lindsey, our picky eater who only eats dark chocolate, even tried it and declared it delicious.

Sorry if this sounds like an infomercial -- anyone who knows me knows that I don't spout off about products left and right unless I believe in them. I have to say that I was utterly skeptical going in to this. Yeah right, a shake is going to fill me up and I won't be hungry. Uh huh. But I've been pleasantly surprised by this added element, so I am honestly telling you of my experience with it.

I've backed off on my "Insanity: Asylum" workouts this week as I've got the Minnesota Half Marathon this Saturday. I signed up for the duathalon this year, meaning that I'll be skating 13.1 miles, then lacing up my running shoes and heading back out for a 5k run. I'll be saving my hamstrings and quads for that race this week, so no vertical plyo or speed + agility for me the next few days, although I'm thinking a strength training session sounds pretty good.

I am nervous about skating on my new skates because I'm still getting them tweaked. Yesterday the "master boot fitter" (yes, that is his official title) at Pierce Skate & Ski  molded an orthotic arch support into my left skate. I went out for 10 miles this morning and felt pretty good, so I may finally be on my way to having well-fitted skates. But that doesn't make me any less tentative on hills.

To get an idea of how fast these skates can go, drive 20 mph down a street in your car, and then imagine taking away the car and strapping skates on your feet. Not that I can sustain 20 mph, but I hit that on the downhills. Nerve-wracking, I tell you. Protective gear wouldn't actually protect you if you fell at that speed, it'd just keep the bones together until you get to the hospital. I've learned that while good equipment will let you go fast, it won't make you go fast. Good training, confidence and lack of fear will make that happen.

I'll let you know in my next fitness update how the race went!

*This is not a paid endorsement for Shakeology or Team Beachbody products. This is my honest assessment as a skeptical consumer who tried the product for 30 days.

Best Day Ever

She awoke to hugs and kisses, as usual. But this time they were accompanied by whisperings of "happy birthday."

She stays in her pajamas and watches cartoons. As she dresses to go out to breakfast at her favorite breakfast restaurant she says to me, "Mommy, isn't this the best day ever?"

We return home for a rousing playtime of baby dolls. Babies dolls line our living room rug, in various states of being put to bed, changed or fed. Her chatter floats through the house as she talks to them all. I watch her from a distance, not wanting to intrude upon her special time. She catches me watching her, smiles and says, "Mommy, this is the best day ever."

We run to the grocery store for birthday party supplies, which she helps to pick out. We use the self-service check-out which makes her feel important and special as she scans each item.

We return home and she announces she wants to go for a bike ride around the block. We make several loops, racing at times and going as slowly as possible at others. "Mommy," she says, "Guess what."

"What," I say, knowing what she'll say next.

"I love you!" she announces, giggles and leans towards me for a sideways hug. "If you had to say, would you say that this was the best day ever?"

Her dad and sister arrive home, and she dons her special birthday hat to open presents. She delights in ripping the paper and hugs her sister for giving her a homemade pillow that is only partially constructed. Upon opening a bouquet shaped like birthday cake, she asks that we light the candles and sing happy birthday to her. She jumps around and directs us while we sing to her, then blows out the candles emphatically.

"This is the best day ever!" she exclaims.

We leave for the restaurant for dinner and she orders exactly what she wants. We listen to the girls chatter about what they're going to do during the birthday party the next day.

We return home and catch the last of the opening ceremonies of the Olympics. We watch a part of the parade of nations. Tiredness sets in around countries beginning with the letter "G" -- there will be no staying up to wait for the United States to enter the arena.

She dons her pajamas, brushes her teeth and reads us stories while lying on our bed.

I finally tuck her in to her own bed, with Dax already curled up beside where she'll sleep.

"Mommy," she whispers, pulling me close to her for a hug, "This was the best day ever."

That's what makes Marissa so special. Every day with her is the best day ever.

Seven

Marissa turned seven on Friday. Being the second child, her birthday has sometimes taken second stage to her older sister's, so I took the day off work and sent Lindsey to her summer program, so I could spend the day with Marissa doing whatever she wanted to do.

We went to Perkins for breakfast where she had a french toast tower. She played with baby dolls back at home, and then wanted to ride her bike. We had to pick up groceries that day, and we stopped at Dairy Queen for lunch while running that errand. Back home for more playing while I sorted through her 1st grade papers.

When Wayne and Lindsey arrived home before dinner Marissa opened her presents from us, including two homemade gifts from Lindsey. One special gift was a bouquet from her Grandpa Tom in Arkansas that had arrived earlier in the day, which she insisted in staying in the box until she officially "opened" it. The bouquet was shaped like a birthday cake, complete with candles. She had us light the candles, sing "happy birthday" to her and she blew out the candles before we headed out to dinner (photos are in the collage, above).

Dinner was with the entire family at Olive Garden, the same restaurant Marissa chose last year for her birthday dinner. What more could a girl want but unending breadsticks, salad and spaghetti noodles?

The next day, Saturday, was her birthday party. A total of 14 girls were invited but only six could make it, as expected with a summer birthday. Lindsey had a friend come as well for a total of 8 girls. Marissa asked for a "rock star dance party" at our house. I wasn't sure what exactly that meant, but for her it a game of freeze dance, bracelet making and whatever else she and her friends chose to do.

It was wonderful to see her with her friends opening gifts -- she was so polite, opening cards first without being reminded, thanking each guest and giving each of them a hug.

A wonderful birthday for a special little girl.

Fitness Challenge: Week Three

Yep, another week of boring work outs. Boring boring.

Oh contraire, dear reader!

The week kicked off with a family adventure -- the Color Run! Their tag line? "The happiest 5k on the planet!"

My sister flew to Minneapolis from Indiana to join us on this adventure. Runners are instructed to wear plain white t-shirts at the start, and at every 1k marker you run through a cloud of a dyed powder (corn starch, non-toxic). There's a different color at each 1k marker, and by the end of it you're a rainbow.

Near the starting line.

I was happy that my friend Laura joined us for this adventure. She drove to St. Paul from Rochester, MN, just for the event, with her husband and little girl in tow. I have no idea what time they had to leave their house, but we had to get up at 5:30 a.m., and we already live in the metro area. That's dedication! She wrote a post from her perspective on the adventure, if you'd like to read it.

If you can imagine, they had 20,000 runners signed up and ready to run. The race began at 8 a.m. and they let 1,000 people go every 5 minutes from 8:00 until the last runner had gone. We had to wait in queue for 20 minutes before finally making it into the 5th wave -- we were dripping in sweat before we'd even taken off, it was so hot.

Lindsey and Wayne took off running right from the start, while Kristi and I stayed back with Marissa, who ran the first 1k of it but walked the rest. We lost Laura halfway through, as she ran ahead so she could meet with her daughter at the 4k marker and run the last 1k with her.

When we first started Marissa was confused and said, "I thought people would be putting color on us!" She didn't realize they didn't put color on you the entire way, just at certain points.

First orange.

 

Then pink.



Feeling blue!


I missed photographing the last station. At the finish as people crossed they opened up the packets of colors we'd been given in our race packets and threw them all into the air. I dumped mine over Marissa, and then later was given a half-used packet of pink from a random runner, which I also dumped over her. Only by then her glasses were on top of her head.

Rock star!

We miraculously met up with Lindsey and Wayne, considering Wayne had left his phone behind and by this time there were several thousand runners congregating in the finish line area for the festivities, all in rainbows of color that made people unrecognizable.


She had no fun whatsoever.



Our "after" photo.

Fitness is boring.

On a separate note, I was thrilled to have my sister there, not only for this run but for my first-ever "Fit Club" workout on Saturday. "Fit Club" is basically open to anyone who wants to get in a free workout with other people. The coach for that Fit Club picks a workout video from the Team Beachbody suite of products, and people go to town working at whatever level they're at, each of us sweating like never before.

Kristi has lost a lot of weight and toned up a lot since making her decision to get fit over a year ago. I am so incredibly proud of her and of the changes she's made in her life. Thank you, Kristi, for inspiring me!

Geeking Out With Inline Skates

They are finally here. My skates. You know, inline skates? Oh don't think of those things you wore in the 90's. Those clunky black things that weighed 10 pounds each, with the neon laces that you had to tie halfway up your calf to put on?

Not those.

Circa 1988. My friend still uses these. She books it, too.

These are Bonts, the ones the pros wear. Oh, you didn't know that inline skating was a pro sport? Well, it is, thank you. Not that I'm a pro, but I like to think of myself as a pretty good skater. At last year's  inline marathon I realized that moreso than in other sports, equipment matters. You can go faster with better equipment, even if you never train. Add the training factor and look out, you've got yourself one fast skater.

I've always loved skating from my very first pair of quads, the term us skating geeks call traditional skates that were around before inline skates were invented. I used to skate up and down our driveway and all around on the sidewalks, and in the winter I would skate all around our ping pong table in our unfinished basement. You can picture me, right? Long hair in ponytails, glasses (just to confirm the geekdom here), all elbows and knees with skinny legs in between? Yep, that was me.

As a newlywed in 1995 I bought my first pair of inline skates. I remember going skating for what was probably a little under a mile and paying for it the next two days with burning legs that refused to go up and down stairs. But I strapped them back on the next weekend and the next weekend, and used those things for 10 years, through four houses and two babies, countless wheels and a multitude of bearings.

After baby #2 was born in 2005, I treated myself to a new pair and retired my old ones after 10 years of service. The new ones were amazingly light, faster, and much easier to put on. In the early years I would circle Lake Harriet twice in 50 minutes and it wiped me out. I wished I had the stamina to go farther, because I loved the feeling of speed, being outdoors, and enjoying the ride.

Seven years later so much has changed, but still not the skates.

I am still skating on that second pair from 2005, but now I'll cover 10 miles in 50 minutes, or hit the greenway and get 14 or 16 miles in. Last year I competed in my first inline marathon, and finished in 1:58, or an average speed of 13 mph.

It was time to change the skates.

Come to mama!

I finally invested in some equipment, buying Bont semi-race boots with 100mm wheels. The jump from 84mm to 100mm is dramatic -- most skaters take the in-between step of 90mm wheels to get acquainted. (FYI, basic physics here: the larger the wheel the less energy it takes to get it spinning and the more distance it covers with each rotation.) I decided that I probably should've spent the last two years skating on 90mm, so I was going to take the big leap.

Another skating geek factoid: racing skates do not have much padding in them because the more padding there is the more your energy is absorbed by the padding and not transferred to the wheels. The less padding, the more of your physical energy transfers to your wheels, increasing acceleration. Also, the lower the boot the more you can bend your leg, lowering your center of gravity. The lower your center of gravity, the more aerodynamic you are and the faster you go.

Can you tell this is all about speed? And people say I can't do science...hmph!

The skates have a hard outer shell, and they have to be heated to 180 degrees for 10 minutes before you  slip them on. Once you lace them up, they mold to your feet and re-harden in that shape.

I picked them up tonight, and seriously, it's like Christmas in July. I do not remember a time when I was so excited for a material purchase. When I got the call today that they were in, do you think I could wait until the next day to pick them up? Of course not! So after dinner off I went to get them fitted and bring those babies home.

If you've made it to the end of this post, I have to applaud you and award you the inline skating geek fan award. I'll give it to you next time I see you. You'll be at the Minnesota Inline Half Marathon, right?

Fitness Challenge: Week Two

I hit a speed bump this past week in my fitness challenge. I was doing my Asylum workout one morning, the "Strength" one with weights and lots of push ups. At the beginning of the workout my left shoulder was making a grinding noise, but I chalked it up to my typical tension that I hold in my shoulders. (Ask any of my masseuses over the years.) Halfway through I heard a little "pop" and was in sudden pain. Sharp, shooting pain, but only with certain movements. This limited the rest of this particular workout enough that I finally stopped it because I wasn't able to do most of it.

I was afraid I had really hurt something, like REALLY hurt something. I mean, who hears a "pop" in their body and it doesn't mean bad news? So I laid off, took ibuprofen throughout the day and iced it morning and night.

Thursday I had to lay off any workout at all -- I couldn't imagine even trying to inline skate with my shoulder giving me that much hurt at every little jostle. Through this experience I learned that we rely on our shoulders for a lot of movements that I had taken for granted. Putting a shirt on. Steering a car. Answering the phone. Closing a door. And you have no idea how much you turn over in your sleep in the night until it hurts to do so and you wake up every time your sleeping body tries to do it.

Don't take your shoulders for granted, that's all I have to say.

On my drives to and from work (which, you may know if you follow my blog, are often quite lengthy), I massaged it as best I could, often pressing to the point where I had to breathe through the pain.

And shockingly, by Friday morning I was back to my workout. They were workouts that did not have as much shoulder work on them, and whenever push-ups or other shoulder intense activities were required I modified the exercise. But I managed through them.

And Saturday I managed to get TWO workouts in, something I previously thought ridiculous. I mean, once you work out, you're done, right? Oh no, this is the program, welcome to it. So I did my "Vertical Plyo" workout in the morning (which currently sucks, by the way, which means when I finally master it I'm going to LOVE it), and in the afternoon joined my coach Gianna at a Fit Club gathering for a 55 minute "Insanity" workout. We moved. We pushed. We encouraged each other. And we were all proud of ourselves afterwards for pushing ourselves as far as we could go.

I'm enjoying my Shakeology lunches as well. I mean really, what's the difference between a tasteless microwave meal that leaves you hungry an hour later, or a chocolate shake (CHOCOLATE, you hear??) that fills you up for the rest of the afternoon? And in these past two weeks I've dropped 4 pounds, and am noticing, some definition in my arms and legs that didn't used to be there.

In a nuthshell, I'm thrilled.

I leave you with a video I posted to our challenge group's wall this past week. Our coach Gianna has designated Friday as "Fun Fit Friday" and asked members to post videos of how we're incorporating fitness into our every day activities. Gianna's example was a video of her doing squats while brushing her teeth.

This video was my reply, which was met with much laughter and smiles.

My Fitness Challenge Inspiration

So why a fitness challenge? Why me?

My co-workers will tell you they already think I'm crazy. On Monday mornings when people ask "How was your weekend?" I talk about 5ks, inline skates, family fun runs, all kinds of activities. One of my co-workers told me, "I get tired just following you on Facebook!"

So why would I want a fitness challenge, and what inspired me to do so?

I have to be honest. I am inspired by fat people.

I wrote it in that way to jolt you. But in a way, it's true. Not because I'm afraid if I don't do these things I'll become fat. That's not it at all. It's because I see overweight people doing things I would never dream of if I were them.

I've seen overweight people run 5ks faster than I do. I watched a man competing in a triathalon with his knees hitting his belly as he rode in the biking portion of the tri. I witnessed a man crossing the finish line at the Boston 5k with gasps and small steps, to great cheers and encouragement.

I can tell you now: if I were as overweight as they were, I would never have dared.

I would have resigned myself to my fate as an overweight person, destined for diabetes, heart disease and whatever else may follow. But I see these people out there on the trails, pushing themselves beyond their limits.

Here's the thing: they have so much farther to go than I do. And they aren't quitting. They aren't hanging their heads down in despair. They are pushing to that goal with every ounce of their body and souls. My God, what is stopping me when they are pushing themselves so hard?

Every time I see one of these people around the lakes I want to cheer them on. I want to tell them how proud I am of them, how I admire the dedication and commitment they're demonstrating.

But of course I don't, because they might not see themselves the way I see them.

So I silent go on, pushing myself farther and faster to try to keep up with the effort that they put into the changes they are making in their lives.

I am humbled by their will, and aspire to meet it.

That's what inspires me.

This video is only one example of why I am taking on this challenge. I plan to see it through.

The Mystery of the Missing Dog



(FYI, dog is not actually missing. Here's photographic proof.)

When Dax was just a pup, we had a kennel for him in our basement. This wasn't just a crate, it was a large space made out of 3-foot sections of metal fencing, so he had a 9 square-foot area for himself while we were at work.

We bought him a little dog bed, which he promptly chewed up. We bought him another one, which he also decimated in about a day. We then decided to go the blanket/rug route, as he didn't seem to go through those too easily and they were cheaper to replace, anyway.




Finally he stopped chewing on the blankets, and we thought that perhaps the chewing stage of puppyhood was done. So we bought him a bed again, this time something that resembled a puppy bean bag, made out of all fleece and one that dogs could scratch and push into any shape to get comfortable on. Something kind of like this.



Everyone say "Awwww!"

Unfortunately he began nibbling at the seams, but at least it was taking him a while and the dog bed was still usable while he nibbled away.

One day I came home from work and went downstairs to get him out, only to see an empty kennel! I stared in wonder and amazement. Hmmm, the gate is shut, there's no way he could jump over the 4-foot sides, where did Dax go?

The only thing in the entire kennel was the bed ball, which began to move. And move. Eventually a little head popped out of the top of the dog bed. Dax had completely eaten a hole into the ball and wiggled his way in, and that's how he slept in the dog bed.

He slept in the bed that way for some time until he finally opened a seam up so far that all the stuffing came out all over. That was the end of the dog bed ball.

I Didn't Realize the Presidency Was For Sale

This may come as no surprise -- I support re-electing President Obama. While he's become a lightning rod for everything wrong with this country, there is so much he is doing right. and he can only do so much with a gridlocked legislative branch.

I find it frustrating that only one year into his four-year term political pundits were already talking about his chances of being re-elected. Let the man just do his job, instead of campaigning to keep his job, mkay?

I have been slightly engaged in this presidential campaign, signing online petitions, getting involved in social media, but not supporting financially or advocating passionately.

But now I'm getting annoyed and angry at the entire process. At the end of June both Obama's camp and Romney's camp released their financial statements, disclosing the names of their highest dollar donors and the total amount that's been raised. Now that the Republican field has been narrowed down to a single candidate, Romney's camp raised $107 million, while Obama's camp raise $70 million.

That's a whole lotta money. I know a lot of charities that could do some good with that money, change people's lives and all that.

And because I've been involved in Obama's camp, I'm now getting the emails from his side:

"We're being outspent. If this continues we will lose." And then the kicker at the end:

"Paid for by Obama for America."

So...my $3 is going to go towards creating and sending an email that asks other people to donate $3?

If you click through the email to the donation form, you'll see that if you've already given your limit of $2,500 to this campaign, you have several options to support Obama.

Like give to the Obama Victory Fund. Or the joint fundraising committee of the Democratic National Committee. Give to them all until you've giving your $2,500 limit, then find the next super PAC that is fundraising as well.

In the past four years, while the household income of the average American declined by 20%, the income of our congressmen have increased 20%. The disparity between the have's and the have-nots has grown. And now the fact that our leadership can be bought is being made blatantly clear to everyone in America, including people like me, who were asked for a measly $3 to help support the president.

Who else sees something wrong with our political process?  I think I'm going to start advocating hard to campaign reform. This is getting ridiculous.

Fitness Challenge: Week One

It's been one week since I've begun the 60-day fitness challenge that my friend Gianna began. Everyone who is doing this is trying something different, something that is appropriate to his/her level.

For me, that means I'm doing the "Insanity:Asylum" workouts and replacing my pathetic lunch choices (read "Lean Cuisines") with a Shakeology shake.

I was completely intimidated starting the Asylum workouts. If you've heard or read anything about them, you'll know that they are intense. The warning at the beginning of each DVD is enough to scare you away, if you didn't believe what you'd heard.

In my first workout I was gasping and sweating in 3 minutes...and that was just the warm-up. The coach during the video, Shaun T, told me, "If this is making you sweat, you're in for a real workout."

Gulp.

After my first workout I emailed Gianna and asked if she would loan me her "Insanity" for this challenge. I did not think I was up for this. But she convinced me that you do not have to do the first "Insanity" workout to take on this one, and that I was probably already at a fitness level that could handle this challenge.

At the end of the day, as I reflected back on the start of my morning with this workout, I was pretty proud of myself. My muscles were kind of sore but not TOO sore, and I felt like I was going to make myself stronger if I stuck with it.

So I plowed on, day after day. The program is four days of workouts, one day of rest. This is on top of your other physical activities, not in place of them. So if I spent my morning workout time inline skating, that meant that I got to spend time in the evening getting my Asylum workout in.

Speed and Agility. Strength. Vertical Plyo. Back to Core.

I had to improvise in some cases. I can't use the jump rope provided in our basement with 8-foot ceilings, so I jump along and pretend. For the first strength workout I didn't have any weights, so I used a gallon of paint that was half full. I have to keep moving my equipment around in my small little space. Instead of making excuses and saying "I can't do this one, I think I'll sit it out," I found a way to make it work for me.

Saturday came and I was feeling great. So great that when I hit the lakes for an inline skate, I managed to skate 10 miles in 51 minutes, an average speed of 12 mph, in considerable foot and bike traffic. Every time I got tired and thought of slowing down, I heard Shaun T in my head, saying, "Push it push it push it! You've got it in you!" Or if I took a break, I would take short one and hear, "That's enough of a break for you. Get back at it."

I was damn proud of myself, until 3 hours later when my legs seized up. My hamstrings were strung so tight you could pluck them. My quads were killing me and my calves were mooing. It was surprising how my body reacted to this workout after no break for the entire week. Ow ow ow!

I told my loving and supportive husband how sore I was and he said, "Well you stretched, right? You do know to stretch?" in his usual loving and non-sarcastic way.

Uh...yeah, I know that! That doesn't mean I did it, though.

So I put in the "Relief" DVD and did 20 minutes of stretching, along with additional stretches before bed. Aahhh! Much better! I skipped that day's workout and did it on Sunday instead, which was supposed to be my day of rest.

So I'm a week in, and feeling pretty good. I'll let you know how I'm feeling at the end of week two.

Independence Day

Such a strange Independence Day this year, falling smack dab in the middle of a work week, and in the middle of a long and brutal heat wave. It reached 101 degrees on our thermometer at home that day. But we still had to take in the Edina parade, despite the heat. It just wouldn't be the 4th of July without a parade!

Lindsey was happy to be there, despite the heat.

Marissa...not so much.

The parade begins with the presentation of the American flag.

Honoring our veterans.

The bad guy's right next to you! Turn around, Superman!!

Keith Ellison, our representative. Must be an election year.

To celebrate the melting pot that is America, we had sushi for dinner. Actually, it was to honor the melting that was going on in Minnesota. It was too dang hot to cook, too hot to stand next to a grill, and who wanted to eat hot food anyways? So sushi from Lund's it was.

Inspired to Run My Best

This past weekend our family participated in Children Cancer Research Fund's 10th annual Time to Fly. This is a run/walk event with something for everyone: a 10k run, a 5k run, a 5k walk and a 1k kid's fun run. Lindsey decided she wanted to sleep in Saturday after her tiring week at Camp Kici Yapi, so Marissa, Wayne and I went to Harriet Island in St. Paul while Lindsey stayed home with a babysitter.

The temperature was already 88 degrees when Wayne's 10k began at 7:30 am, and it only got hotter from there. By the time my 5k run began at 8:30 it was 91 degrees with 66% humidity. Whew.

Yet despite the heat, I ran my fastest 5k ever. Why, you ask? Because every time I thought of stopping I saw these little signs that were along the entire route.

In honor of children fighting for their lives, or in memory of those who had already lost their battles. Just before the 1-mile mark I spotted the sign that our family had sponsored, honoring Annika, our Duluth friend, who recently fought back leukemia for the second time in her 6 years here on earth.

Every time I got winded or felt my knee tighten up, I looked at those signs and thought about the hardships those children had faced or were facing. The needle pricks, blood draws, chemotherapy, exhaustion, nausea, radiation. They have faced more challenges than most people ever will their entire lives. A little 5k was nothing compared to what they had gone through.

So I completed the 5k in 34 minutes and 16 seconds, only stopping to walk once at the water stop. Wayne and Marissa missed seeing me finish because they didn't expect me for at least 5 more minutes.

I also learned that I can see well enough to run even with tears brimming in my eyes.