Odds and ends

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Been a busy week.  First week of no school for the kids.  Except of course I’m the mean mommy who makes them do homework all summer.  When your son who just finished second grade says, “Ummm what’s 6+7?”, you know you need to make him to math drills all summer.  We have to get into a new groove and routine for the summer….but I suppose that will take a few weeks.

Managed a few runs – including a group run today of 3.3 miles. (June lied and said we were only doing 3…she also burst off ahead of all of us turtles.)  At least I wasn’t alone in the back of the pack. And it’s been awhile since we had a group run (i.e. more than 2 people).  While I like being able to run with just me and my tunes, I also enjoy the time to talk, vent, and compare diets.  By the way, we are not talking about my weight loss challenge this week. Suffice it to say that my metabolism is not getting any of the memos I keep sending it.

We’re also working on getting healthier habits into the whole family. I refuse to allow the kids to keep grabbing juice boxes out of the fridge.  So we now each have our own water bottles – kept on the table from which to sip all day long.

Hydration!

Our son really likes the idea – despite a desperate need for a restroom while we were in line at the post office yesterday. Our daughter is coming around – as she does with everything that Mommy and Daddy suggest.  In fact, as I was typing this, she came up and declared “I’m thirsty.”  I pointed at the water bottle and she sighed, “oh I forgot.”  Ah six-year olds.

I’ve been eking out a few miles here and there in my Merrells.  Really really like the feel of the minimalist shoe.  I almost ran the group run in them today – but Steve reminded me I need to work up to longer distances.  But meanwhile I still love Merrells – and the fact that they have read this blog!!!  COOL!

Thank you Merrell!!

And sent me even more presents!  I really can’t say enough good things about this company!  I’ve started the Barefoot Running book.  It’s rather good – although some of the people in it – run barefoot.  Like really barefoot.  Like no shoes at all.  Ugh.  The summer I turned 9, I was running outside barefoot in my front yard.  Until I stepped on a piece of wire and had to go to the ER.  It was a really thick wire.  Hence, I’m rather fond of keeping my soles protected. But I’m encouraged by my, thus far, minimal strides into the minimalist world. And the book is encouraging.

 

You can do it!Speaking of encouragement – I saw this sign at Downtown Disney last weekend. I don’t recall any stories of Walt Disney being a runner. But as a visionary – he definitely knew how to put his efforts full force into something. If only we all could be so determined…….

Now – put down the computer/smartphone/tablet and go RUN!

 

 

Favorite company EVER

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It pays to be nice.

Remember my post about our beach trip? It morphed into a post about our family’s extensive collection of Merrell shoes.  Quick recap – we are family of four with currently 10 pairs of Merrells among us.  My husband has transitioned to doing all his runs in his Road Gloves and wears his Tough Gloves to work. I’ve been adding a mile or so here and there in my Bare Access pair, run errands in my Pace Gloves and wear my sandals to church. Our kids love their new Merrells (claim they are speedier now).

When we had come to the realization that our collection was quite extensive, we snapped a picture for ourselves.

yup - 10 pairs of Merrells!

And then I had a quick thought to just sent it to Merrell themselves. To be a geek and show what fans we were.  Steve had a customer service email address from when they helped him with a flaw in one pair of his.  (Complete replacement – awesome customer service.)  I sent off the picture with just a short email saying how our family loves their products and that we might need some shoe addicts rehab or something.  I figured it would make people laugh at best. Be ignored more likely.

Well imagine my surprise when a few days later I got an email asking for my mailing address as they liked my picture and had something to mail me.  Wow.  I sent off the address and a link to my blog post about the shoes.  Independently, Steve and I both figured they might send us t-shirts or a bumper sticker or some nice Merrell trinket.  Our daughter figured they were mailing us all free shoes – which we explained was not going to happen.

Except she was pretty close to right.

Today in the mail we got the following letter and gift card.  WOW!  I was stunned. Not only are Merrell’s products comfy and well made. But they are clearly a company that cares about its customers and appreciates them.

Let me be clear – I didn’t ask for anything when I send off my email. I simply wanted to tell the company how much we like their products. I did joke about a loyalty program but that was it. They did not have to acknowledge my email never mind follow up with such a generous gift. But they did. And that is just old fashion “going above and beyond” business sense in my mind. And Merrell has gone up even more in my eyes.

The good retail companies understand that customers are the heart of what they do. And they care about what people think of their products AND the company as a whole.  Those are the ones who work hard to show that they stand behind their products and they work hard to make the customers happy. Simply put – Merrell has made me happy.

So what do I like about their shoes?

I love the lightweight feeling of the “barefoot” running shoes. In fact, after a few days of them, I went for a longer run in my usual running shoes and I felt like my feet were in blocks of cement.  Of course it could be that it was 85 degrees and 95% humidity too and it was just a lousy time to be out running in Florida weather.  But my feet are comfy in them, they feel more natural.  I like running errands in my Pace Gloves as they make me more aware of my feet and how I walk.

Will I transition to being an all “barefoot” runner?  I don’t know.  I’m not great yet at the mid foot strike so I’m not sure how well I’ll do on long distances. That and I’m a *ahem* slightly heavier curvaceous woman – so having some support might always be best for longer distances. When I get to be a thin, gazelle like runner that graces the covers of Runner’s World, I’ll let you know.  🙂  But I like that I think more about my posture even just walking around in them. But know that Merrell has a great deal of information on their site about barefoot running and an app to make it easier!  I’ve downloaded the app and watched the videos on it – very helpful!

However, you don’t need to just buy barefoot styles at Merrell. They have TONS of other shoes – hiking boots to water shoes and everything in-between.  Definitely check them out.  And you can tell them I sent you!

As for our gift card – it’s probably going to go to buy two more pairs of kid shoes. No matter how many bricks you put on their heads – darn kids just keep growing and growing – along with their feet. And they really love the fact that their Merrells earned them a lot of attention in school. Friends and even other teachers commented on them.  (Our daughter even went up to one teacher who was wearing Pace Gloves like mine and started a whole conversation about how great Merrells are. I think she’s angling for being a spokesperson for them!)

And me – once I start making more progress towards my goal – I’ll be adding more pairs to my Merrell wish list.

Now – go shop!  Or better yet – go RUN!  And if you have other companies that you want to rave about with regard to their customer attention and service – let me know your stories.

Pint sized inspiration

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This is the last week of school for our kiddos.  But they still have to do work – which for our daughter includes “bell work” to be done when you get to your seat.  I dropped her off and then took our son to his class and went back to daughter’s class with papers I had copied for the teacher.

Curly-headed daughter came running up to me and said, “Come see my work, Mama. We had to write what we want to be when we grow up.”

There on her sheet was this sentence:  When I grow up I want to be a mommy who runs, just like my mommy.

With that tucked inside my heart, I ran 1 mile in the new Merrells this morning.  10:16 min/mile baby.  My fastest EVER.

Love what family can do for you.

If a mom tries to go for a run

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nods of fan appreciation and apologies to Laura Numeroff

*based on a true story

If a mommy plans an early run, she will set her alarm. But then she will wake up ready to go an hour before the alarm rings.

When she realizes it’s an hour early, she will fight her way back to sleep until the alarm really goes off and she’s too tired to get out of bed.

When she does get out of bed, she will have to listen to the cat meowing at her while in the bathroom.

When she looks up at the cat, she will realize the cat is actually meowing at a cockroach.

When the cockroach gets spooked (because of course it will), it will run straight to the pile of running clothes the mommy has collected on the bathroom floor.

When the mommy sees the scurrying insect, she will jump off the toilet swinging and screaming at the cat and the roach.

When the cockroach sees the looming shadow, it will dart for the shower so the mommy will worry about it later when she showers.

When the mommy goes through the pile of running clothes, she will pick out the least stinky clothes and get dressed.

When she grabs her shoes, she will head to the kitchen where she will realize she has no socks.

When she goes back in the bedroom, she will apologize to the daddy as she puts on the lights to find running socks (which can not be determined by feeling around the drawer).

When she gets her socks and shoes on, she looks for her iPhone with running app and the case for the iPhone.

When she can’t find the case (and vows to clean off the surfaces in the kitchen later today), she will go back to the bedroom, apologize again and turn on the light again.

When she still can’t find it, she will go to the bathroom and NOT apologize to the cockroach as she turns on that light.

When she finds the case, she will go back to the kitchen to realize she needs some water bottles.

When she fills up two containers of Gatorade, she will realize she forgot her gel shot.

When she grabs the gel shot, she vows again to clean up the kitchen today.

When she goes to her car, she will open it to find the faint smell of yuck from all the rain the day before.

When the smell overwhelms her, she will go back inside to find the Febreeze.

When she can’t find the Febreeze immediately, she vows to clean the laundry room after she cleans the kitchen.

When she finally finds the Febreeze, she will spray up the car.

When she gets into the car, she will choke from all the fumes.

When she finally stops choking, she will get to the meeting place and run three sweaty miles with her friend.

When she gets home, she eats breakfast, writes in her blog, and ….

then she remembers she’s suppose to clean the kitchen, the bathroom, and the laundry room.

Anyone up for another run instead?

 

Fill ‘er up

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There are some people who fret about how much fuel is in their car’s tank. For example, on long car trips with my dad, my mom worries when the gas gauge gets below 3/4 of a tank.  Okay maybe at 1/2 tank. But the concern is that you might not know what’s around the bend so you should keep it filled up while you can. You don’t want to get caught on empty in the middle of nowhere.

My stomach is exactly like that.  It constantly thinks it’s in this state:

  In actuality the gauge is probably more like this:Stupid stomach.

In addition to poor skills at measurement, my body is apparently very bad at subtraction. I mentioned to the doctor that earlier this week I had eaten roughly 1200 calories and burned approximately 400 in exercise that day.  When I stood on the scale the next day, I had gained 2 pounds!  What in the world????  The doctor’s response – you’re not eating enough.

Oh yeah that must be it.

Apparently when I don’t eat much my body is worried that the next gas station isn’t for miles and miles.  So we have to hang onto all the lovely fat – and even multiple it when possible. My stomach isn’t clued into the fact that there is food in the house and it will last for awhile.  Stupid stomach.

But I am trying and I am being good. The loss has stalled for a few days – but I’m determined to get my stomach and body to get with the program.

 

There’s a joke in here somewhere

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Couch potato meets road.  See – if even this potato can do it, so can you!

Why did the potato cross the road?

I have no idea why there was a potato in the road but I stopped running to take a picture and encourage it on its journey.  Sadly, when I ran by this corner the next day, all that was left was a flattened splotch of potato skin in the same spot.  Perhaps there’s a lesson in that too – keep moving for goodness sakes!

Toes in the beach

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We were fortunate to get to go to the beach for a few days last week.

great place for a run!

Got to run on the beach.  The view was amazing….so amazing that I forgot to check what my hotel looked like. Yup – I got lost on the beach. I was really confused why the hotel was setting up tiki huts on the beach when I was sure that they had had blue umbrellas the day before.  Now, you might think – Gee, didn’t you just look at how far out you ran and then double that for the way back and find your hotel right where you left it?   And that was my plan – but apparently I can’t do math and run at the same time.  Steve laughed at me (a lot) when I called him on my iPhone from the beach.  And then he laughed again when I got up to the room.

I actually braved another run the next day after memorizing EXACTLY what our hotel looked like.  But this one was just one mile – I wanted to try “barefoot” running.  That is – not running without shoes….but with my Merrell pace gloves on.  I’ve been wearing my Merrells since Christmas – just for walking though as barefoot running takes some building up. I’m not sure I want to ultimately run in barefoot shoes exclusively. But I’ve found that the shoes have helped strengthen my feet a bit.  Not totally getting rid of the stupid plantar pain – but I find it does help.  And running in them turned out to be fun….and yes I found the hotel again.  Whew.

The barefoot run was partially inspired by the fact that I had ordered a new pair of Merrells – their new Bare Access Arc. I had tried them on at the Gasparilla expo and found them to be SO comfortable.  They look more like traditional running shoes but are so lightweight.  I was so tempted by them that I figured at some point I would order them and try to run in them a little.

A few days after we got back, the Merrells showed up – all 5 pairs!  Yes we are clearly an insane family.  Steve has taken to running in his Merrells. And he had gotten a pair of the leather ones for work. And he ordered more pairs of the leather ones as they are likely to be discontinued. And of course the kids have worn out their sneakers…..and I wanted a pair of comfy sandals too.  Since Thanksgiving time, we have acquired 10 pairs of Merrells for a family of four.

yup - 10 pairs of Merrells!

50% of them belong to Steve.  When he looked at this picture his comment was, “I have to stop now.”  (When I met him – I think he had 4 pairs of shoes total.  LOL)  I wonder if Merrell has a customer loyalty program.

For the record – the kids LOVE their Merrells. We all went for a quick run after we got our new shoes.  Both kids argued that they were now MUCH faster than they had been before. And I found mine to be very comfy to run in. I think I’ll like trying to incorporate short ‘barefoot’ runs in with my workouts….

And in other news….we shall not talk about the “project weight loss” right now….but I’m still sticking to it and hoping that more progress is around the corner….just gotta run after it!

Give or take a pound or two

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One of my sillier memories of fifth grade involves a gaggle of us girls asking one of the boys in our class how much he weighed.  I have no clue what precipitated this interrogation or why we were even remotely interested in the answer.  But I’ve never forgotten the response.   He simply said, “At what time?”

Being fifth graders we were ready to pounce on his inability to understand simple question words.  We had asked for a quantity in pounds and he was talking about hours of the day.  Clearly the boy had lost his mind.  (After all, he did support the independent candidate for president that year – John Anderson. Why do I remember these things about former classmates?  I have no clue.)  But we had forgotten the important detail that he was one of the smartest kids in our class (and future Ivy Leaguer).  Thus we were subjected to a whole lecture on gravity and how a body at rest at night will distribute weight more evenly than say later on during the course of the day.   I have no idea if his theory was right….but years later I still assume that you weigh much less first thing in the morning…..even a 10 year old knows that, right?

So despite gravity, the weight loss is occurring.  I’m actually down about 5 pounds from when I started the deal with Steve. So about 21 pounds to go.  However, I’m convinced my scale is trying to make me lose my mind in addition to the pounds.

First of all – I weigh myself every morning.  Um yeah –  I know the experts say not to. However I also know weight changes everyday – and I like to track change…I’m a developmental psychologist – we STUDY change.   I like to start my day off with a reminder to my mouth and stomach about what we are trying to accomplish here.

Thus the early morning weigh-in has a required procedure beforehand.  Including (but not limited to) putting in contacts (glasses add at least 7 oz more as I am rather blind), wringing out the bladder (again a few more oz), and making sure the scale is in the optimal point on the bathroom floor.

Steve had redone our bathroom floor with groutable vinyl tiles a few summers back (very nice).  And as he is a perfectionist – I know my floor is flat and even.  However – there is a vortex just next to the closet door where I swear gravity is stronger than usual.   Thus I try to be careful when I turn on the scale so as not to accidentally tip it so that one corner of the scale is in that vortex.

The other day the scale was completely trying to mess with me.  I got on and weighed 1 pound more than the previous day.  Poop – but again I know it’s just daily fluctuations. But then I moved the scale across the floor (avoiding that vortex) and remeasured.  Discovered I had lost 1.2 pounds in those 30 seconds.  Wow!  So I again moved the scale, made sure the four feet were completely even, no wiggles. And then I gained .75 pounds back.  Two times in a row.  Finally moved the scale back to the original location. And got a completely different number.  See – completely messing with my head.  (I wrote down the lowest number in my log – duh.)

Earlier in the week I had a doctor’s appointment to hear my latest cholesterol results.  I had been happy with my morning weigh in – but my appointment was at 3pm.

“But I totally was like 3 pounds lighter this morning.”

The nurse just nodded as she wrote down the number.

“Clearly gravity is different in the morning than in the afternoon. Or maybe it’s different here in the office compared to my house. But I swear I’m really lighter than that.”

At this she just laughed and probably made some note on my chart to indicate the doctor might want to order a psych eval as well.

Regardless – I know this to be true….at least, thus far, the scale has NOT shown me any numbers equal to or greater than where I started. WHEW.  I claim that as victory alone.

I’m also running better.  Not necessarily faster but for longer stretches before I take a walk break.  I didn’t realize quite how out of shape I was with the injured foot. But I’m starting to get my endurance back bit by bit.

I will win this bet ….. despite the strange pockets of gravity densities in my bathroom.

 

 

100 blog posts!!

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100 posts!!!

Woo hoo!  This is my 100th blog post!  Wow….never thought I’d make it that far when I started this blog almost a year ago.  Then again – I never thought I’d actually consider myself a runner.

If this were a television show, 100 episodes would mean I’d be all ready for a party with cake and syndication.  Given my recent dedication to losing weight, the cake is right out.  As for syndication, I’m not sure how well these posts hold up in reruns. But if you haven’t perused the whole shebang – take a look back to some of my oldies but goodies while you’re here.

So how should a blogger (whose readership is limited to a few kind friends and family) celebrate such an accomplishment?  Cause clearly this is cause for amazement and wonder….and presents!  

Well in my case, I killed a fish.

No no – not intentionally.  In fact, I was doing the fish a favor at the time.  I was cleaning his bowl – see very nice – when he decided to keel over in the “holding” bowl.  I would like to point out that I was rather sweet to let him flop his last in my favorite Pampered Chef batter bowl.  Not all mommies would be that kind. But I’m thinking that I won’t be making pancake mix again until I disinfect it thoroughly. (My apologies to any and all Pampered Chef reps – I love your products….apparently fish would die for them.)  I would also like to point out that I refrained from yelling at said (dead) fish that I had now wasted all that time cleaning out a bowl for a fresh corpse.

If you are a fan of this blog (and if you are – definitely hit the Facebook button on the upper right side of this page!) you’ll know this is not the first time we’ve experienced fish death in our house.  (Click here for the full story.)  This was the last of our Rosy Reds….and we still have a beta that seems to thrive on filthy water.

And as with the previous perishings – our son got to witness the horror first hand.  He happened to get out of bed just at the right wrong moment. However this time he was less mad and freaked out.  In fact when the fish tried valiantly to kick himself back up (I presume to say good-bye), our son started saying, “Zombie fish, I have a zombie fish.” He’s all 8 year old boy – pets are cool but zombie pets are even cooler.

I pray we don’t encounter any zombie rats anytime soon.

In other news….. I did celebrate today with some running.  Managed 1.5 miles today with a friend.  Foot’s not doing too badly but we weren’t breaking any speed records.

And we signed up for Disney 2013!!   Steve is doing the Goofy (because he is insane) and I’m signed up for the 1/2 again.  And Steve has reiterated his promise that if I shave 13.1 minutes off my time from this year – I get to go shopping for a Coach purse.  Between the weight loss deal and the run – this could be a profitable year for me.  🙂   Before we signed up – I called my parents to very sweetly ask if they would join us in Disney to watch the kids the morning of the 1/2.  Because I called before his alarm went off, my Dad was very willing to say yes.  (Thanks Dad! Hope you didn’t rethink it after you had some coffee!)  I’m hoping my sis and her husband will do the 1/2 again with us.  (Pretty please??)

As for the weight loss …. I am actually down 1.4 pounds since I made the deal with Steve.  Woo hoo!  So I’m 24.6 pounds away from $1000.  Woot!  So far so good.  I’m trying to stay upbeat about it.  (Come on it’s $1000!)

So – here’s to Stumbling Forward into the next 100 posts….hope you join me!

Diet or diet not, there is no try

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It’s been about two weeks since my last post – in which I was moaning my lack of fashion sense.  And sadly, no change has come forth in my closet.  Still have the same old clothes, many of which are ones I hang on to thinking that somehow either the 80s will come back into fashion or that I’ll instantly lose 50 pounds.  Yeah yeah I know – I wasn’t even fashionable back in the 80s…but maybe retro will make me cooler this time around.  

But it is time to clean out the closet.  As college professors – my husband and I very much look forward to this time of year.  Our classes are over and we survived finals (although some of our students did not). And our children are still in school for another month or so.  Thus – our new found ‘freedom’ means that deep cleaning of the house must commence.   Hey – we are a wild wild pair!  So the closets are often the first things we go through – where we try to be honest about what we really need to keep.  Just glancing at my closet I figure I’ll be left with 3 pairs of yoga pants and a dress of dubious color and style.

On top of the moaning of my clothes…I’ve complained about my weight.  Part of the wardrobe issue is the deep sense of insecurity about how those clothes fit.  When you start to consider applying Body Glide on the days you’re not running – you start to get a little worried.  Here I’ve been running for over a year and I’m still at the same darn weight I was at when the doctor read me the riot act about my health. Time to download yet another app for keeping my eating in check and tracking my weight. (I’m always downloading the free versions of such apps – I’m cheap.)  So for the past few days, I’ve nursed the chronic plantar pain, typed all my foods into my iPhone, and broken out the Gold’s Gym Cardio Boxing for the Wii.  I’ve also done some slow jogs around the block to get my foot back into the game.

And in the middle of all this came along a great idea…..or maybe it’s just a “better than good” idea. Cause it was Steve’s idea….which I’ve agreed to….for better or for worse.

This morning he offered me the following proposal.  Pick a goal weight.  Make it to that weight and he’ll give me $1000 to buy new clothes.   !!!!!!!!!!!!!

One thousand dollars!!!!!!!!

But hold on there’s a catch (there’s always a catch)….

Steve went on to say – if I don’t make it to the goal weight, I get only $50 for new clothes.  Well that and the joy of failing at losing weight.  Which we already know I am incredibly good at.  So that $50 could totally put me in the running for worse dressed college prof come Fall 2012.   Although I’m probably already on the short list.

What can you do with an offer like that?  You have to take it, right?  We’re talking 1000 dollars.  Sadly – I don’t think all total I’ve spent that on my clothes in the last 4 years or so….if you don’t count in running shoes and such.  (See note above – I’m cheap – and fashion impaired so that explains a whole lot.)

Before I officially agreed to it – I should point out that:

a) Steve is a man of his word.  He offered me 50 cents to drink wine at dinner out of the bottle – perhaps cause he was too lazy to get a wine glass down from the cabinet.  He paid up.  (Again – wild wild pair)

b) Steve has more faith in me than I do.

c) Should I win….I do not intend to blow the money in the clothing section of Target (although that is tempting)….I fully intend to make my sister come to FL to shop with me and improve my fashion sense.  Okay – maybe only the first one.  She can only do so much  in one trip.

I sat and looked the goal I had put into the diet app.  Unfortunately that goal weight is projected to take me till Sept.  By then I’ll be needing more clothes for back to school.

So I counter proposed a different goal weight (roughly 26 pounds less than today) by my birthday (August 5th).   And maybe I can get down to the other goal….but at least this goal would bring my BMI back down from the stratosphere.

So now I’m staring at the calendar sheets I printed out and stuck on the fridge and wondering what the heck I’ve gotten myself into.  But then the next minute I dream about how fast I could run if I could lose 26 pounds.  (I mentioned this deal to a friend tonight at a school event….I summed it up that she and I would need to run a lot this summer cause “I have to run my @$$ off.”  Yup – that will be about 15 pounds of it.)

Then I start thinking about cheesecake…..and then I start thinking about running in just a sports bra rather than my giant old shirts (with holes).  And I think this is a doable idea.  As long as I stop thinking about cheesecake.

And I have to do…..or do not.  There’s no trying about this.  I’ll be 42 on my birthday.  And I’m sick of saying “by my next birthday….”   I’m envious of my running friend who has recently lost a lot of weight. I’m tired of wearing running capris cause my running shorts are too tight.  And I’m not a fan of sportswear that is only made for women who are stick figures. The last one I can’t change….but I certainly can work on the other ones….

I never thought I’d make it a year or more with running.  And yet I am – still running.  So anything is possible…..so I can and will make this work.

I’m not going to post about any particular diet or such.  I know the rules of the game – eat less, move more.  And log everything you eat.  All three simple things….that get old after about 3 weeks.  But I have about 13.5 weeks to make it work.

Who’s in with me?   (Of course $1000 not guaranteed to anyone other than me.  🙂