Healthy living

Regan and Nolan have decided that they wants to do another race.So, we are going to do the Reindeer Run in a few weeks. I am so thrilled that both of my kids want to participate in another run. After three years of training for triathlons, dragging them to the gym, on days they would rather stayed home, I have seen a change in them both. At first, I would beg Regan to work out with me, trying to get her interested in running, swimming, biking, anything that would keep her active. I even asked her pediatrician how to make her "want" to do it.. and she gave me some great advice. Stop asking her, stop trying to make her.. just go to the gym regularly, be active and let her watch you. Her pediatrician told me that, studies show, that children who grow up with watching their parents live an active life style, become active and stay active. She asked about my parents, and I told her my dad was a marathon runner. point taken.
so that is what I did. It was hard, because I like things to happen on my time, and this was not one of those times. I had to be patient, and wait.. I have no patience. I wanted to lecture, scream, beg anything, for it to happen, but I kept quiet. When they asked if I would go outside with them, my answer was always yes(even when I would rather sit in front of my t.v. or computer) when they asked if we could walk around the block.. again,yes.. after my workouts at the gym, we went swimming for fun. There were times, I didn't want to go to the gym, or do a run outside, but I did. I knew that I was not only doing this for me, but for my kids, and there is nothing I wouldn't do for them. Teaching them through actions and not words, was something that I had to learn. And as I became more active, they became more active. Then sometime over this summer, Regan began to work out with me. She became interested in the weights,competing with me on the rowing machine, and biking. She loves to go to the gym now, at times when I don't feel like it, she is my motivator. At her doctor visit last month, her cholesterol, which was too high , went down 30 points,back to normal, her BMI went down 3 points into the normal range! That is something to be excited about. She is very proud of herself, because she did it on her own,and it was a great testimony on how exercise, does impact your health.Her peditrician was very excited,because she not only saw a difference in her health, but also in her confidence.
Our children are watching us. They see are good habits, and notice are bad. They learn from who we are, what we do, how we act, the things we say, and the things we don't. We don't have to lecture them to become who we want them to be, we need to BE who we want them to become. There can be no excuse, our children's lives depend on our actions. Being unhealthy isn't an option, because our children are the ones' who will suffer. I believe we are in an epidemic. With all the video games,computer games, IPhone,IPods,and IPads, more people are getting sedimentary, and obese. Children are getting heart disease, and diabetes,at an earlier age. We must, as parents, take our responsibility to become healthy serious, or we risk shortening our children's lives. It starts at home, with ourselves.Being the example.
I look back at my father, and rain or shine he was running(his legacy).He competed in marathons all over the world, I was so proud he was my father. I still brag on all his accomplishments. He set the bar high.
My children are watching me,it is my responsibility to teach them, through my own actions, how to live a healthy lifestyle, so that they can live a very long, healthy happy, life!

The Best Race Ever

It is so funny to me how your expectations of something,pales in comparison to the real thing. That when you wake up, expecting to do one thing.. and then something even better happens..This morning,as I was getting ready to compete my hardest and fastest in my first 10K race,my course changed.
My daughter, Regan, who was running in the 5K portion, lost her partner for unforeseen reasons. Regan was very distressed, as she had never run a race before, and was expecting, needing, and excited about running this race with her Aunt. But, as we know, stuff happens, plans change, and there was no way she could run with Regan. Regan had to make a decision. To run the race without her partner, or not run in the race at all.
At first, when she heard the news, she was sad and confused as to what she was going to do. She wanted to complete her race that she had been training for., but she does not like change. I could tell she was agonizing over her decision, but I also knew it had to be her own.
She decided she would do the run. As she got ready, there were tears, from her being afraid of doing this race alone. So, after much discussion,Regan and I decided to do the first 3 miles together, and that I would do my last 3miles on my own. This still bothered her, as she didn't want me to mess up my time, she wanted me to do my best race..and to be honest I was worried about that too! However, I convinced her that we would do it together, and everything would work out.
Regan and I started the race, and as we came upon the crossroads to go the 5k route or the 10K route, she choose to go with me. She took the longer, harder route.
At around 2 miles, we hit dirt road, and she began to get a bleeding blister on the back of her right foot, she was struggling. We walked, we ran, she cried.. I thought it was about her blister, but it wasn't, she was crying for me. She felt she was holding me back,she wasn't thinking of herself, she was worrying that I was not having the race that I had anticipated.. I stared at her in amazement.I was worried about my time too, not her foot, and I thought that was what she was crying about. Man, it really sucks when your own child embarrasses you,shames you from your own self centeredness..At that moment my daughter became the teacher and I the student, What an incredible young woman... Regan taught me so much today.She humbles me. She taught me that ..
1.Its your race.. you choose to run..
2.You may go faster alone, but you can go further together
3.When you are hurting, put someone else's feelings first, and you don't feel so bad about yourself.
4.In life.. things happen.. its your choice that decides who you are,not the circumstance.
5.Finish your race...
Regan was in so much pain at the 3rd mile.. I had her go straight, while I turned right. She finished her four miles well, she finished strong. Her grandfather would have been proud! I got to the finish line, and she was waiting with my brother.. We were so happy.. I cried.. she cried.. this time tears of joy. Tears for my father.. Tears for how proud I am of my daughter..MY daughter.. My daughter.. I have never been so blessed and proud in that moment.
Yeah, waking up this morning , I was not expecting the race I ran.. my time was terrible, but I had the best race that I could have ever hoped for! My father would have been proud of me..
Racing is not always about the win,or your time, its about the journey along the way.

Runner's Classic

I am running in a race on Sunday. Its extra special for me for two reasons. One it is in honor of my father, as his b-day is on Nov.26th, and he loved to run. The other reason is, that I am doing this race with one of my best friends, my big brother.
He surprised me with coming to Orlando and signed us both up for this race to honor our father. It will be my first 10k, and it really helped to push me into my next step with running.
I no longer am running to live, I am now living to run. I think somewhere between the 4th and 6th mile, I settled into a "runner" status. I understand more of why my dad ran for so many years. It is no longer something I do to just stay in shape, it is my escape from everything else that is around me. Something really happens, as I get passed that 2nd mile, and I relax into my cadence that will carry me the rest of the way. Being outside, putting miles behind me, and looking forward to the finish. Feeling alive in that moment, when my whole body comes to life,and every nerve ending is awakened, whether its the aching in my left foot, the pounding of my heart, or my chest heaving, trying to catch my next breath, as I push through it all. In that moment, I feel so alive, and so aware of my own body.
This must have been the reason that my father endured so many miles on foot, gone through so many running shoes, and completed so many marathons. He must have known the secret that so few discover, because they stop or give up at the mile, that it would take them to get to the next level. Too few miles and you never experience the "runner's high", that so many talk about. Giving up too soon and you will miss possibilities, opportunities, and experiences that you can only gain through running.
My father must have known, that in order to really live, you will have to experience pain, exhaustion, exhilaration,and liberation. Being a runner means blisters, cramps, scraps and bruises along the journey, it is inevitable. My father was not a spectator, he was in the race. He lived his life like a run, mapping out his course, planning his race, getting sidetracked at times and even lost. But, he kept moving forward, sometimes slow and steady keeping the pace, and sometimes in a sprint. He lead the pack, and at times rested in the middle.He ran hard, he ran fast, he ran with dedication and perseverance. He finished his race.He finished it well.
This Sunday, I will run for my father,I will run on purpose,for a purpose. This Sunday, I become a "runner", I will follow in my father's footsteps, his legacy will live in me and through me.

TIME

TIME, its something I have so little of and yet, so much of it, all at the same TIME!
I find myself trying to finish one thing, so that I don't miss the next thing, all at the same TIME.
I find that in order to enjoy this thing, I can't fully engage in that thing, all at at the same TIME.
I feel that its going by so fast, and yet there are days that drag so slowly, all at the same TIME!
My kids are so grown up, and then do something that shows their real age, all at the same TIME!
My life is so full, and then some days feel so empty, all at the same TIME!
I am trying to manage my house, my kids, my husband, my training, my bills,my calender all at the same TIME!
I have a hundred things to do, and nothing to do, all at the same TIME!
I can feel so proud of my accomplishments, and then so dissapointed in my actions, all at the same TIME!
I can be really sweet, and then really mean, all at the same TIME!
I can praise God, then curse the eggplant driver that just cut me off, all at the same TIME!
Its my curse, and its my blessing, all at the same TIME!