NEW LOOK

I normally don't post pictures of myself on here but I got a haircut today that I am pretty excited about. I have been feeling super frumpy and wanted to do something DIFFERENT. Something that would make me look like I had a little bit of style, even in jeans and a ponytail. Hubby hasn't seen it yet and I am a little nervous! I hope he likes my new look. These were taken from my phone, so the quality isn't great, but maybe you can get the idea. I don't know why I am always in the car when I decide to take my picture. Maybe because that is the only time I don't have a child hanging on to me!
BEFORE


AFTER

UNIQUE NAME?Ever wondered how many people in the United States share your name?

I was surprised to discover that I am the only person in the U.S.A. with my moniker. Likewise, my children are all unique when it comes to their names. Huh. Only the hubby shares his name with anyone else in the U.S., and even then, it is only with 33 other people.

Go to this site to see where you stand in the rankings, then come back and let me know, OK? Because it is awfully interesting.

That, and I just really don't want to vacuum.


*Creative Commons image from Jack Dorsey on flickr.com

TODAY'S RACE

Just wanted to pop in to say that I ran the 5K today in the rain and it was lovely. It was about 60 degrees outside, with a light drizzle. I ran with about 200 other people. A very sweet friend who is a much better runner than me, ran with me today to keep the pace and to encourage me. It was very kind of her and it helped me immensely. I struggled for the last half mile, but only walked about 5 steps of the race, which was a vast improvement over the last run I did.

I finished the race at 29:28, so that is my new personal record. As I got close to the end, I could see the clock counting up the minutes, and picked up the pace to finish under the 30 minute mark. I would like to be able to run a 5k in the 25-26 minute range and hope to work up to that soon. For now though, I have this race in my sights.

I think I am hooked on running.

Right Now, I am:

feeling...surprised and impressed. Mom is giving me the quilt!

enjoying...the early mornings. I have started getting up before the children to pray, read, and run.

wondering...about the complexities of a mother's love. I am over-the-moon for these three little boys, yet, I am struggling to even speak a sentence kindly. How can it be so overwhelmingly wonderful and hard at the same time?

listening...to my children jumping on the couch and yelling.

drinking...H2O. Letting the ice melt to just the right consistency, then crunching away. Ever crunched on melting ice in a hot shower? Bliss.

wanting...to be productive today, but in a calm, happy way. I want to putter around the house, making a pot of vegetable soup, getting things done, reading to the boys, giggling and laughing and being content.

loving...This season of Project Runway. Finale tonight!

looking...forward to this afternoon when my mom keeps the boys for three hours and I can do whatever I wish. Today: catching up on work, cleaning, errands. It will be nice to do the necessary surrounded by quiet.

Thanks, Soulemama, for the inspiration.

RUNNING AND A WAY OF THINKINGI am running my second 5K this Saturday (you may remember that I ran my first race this March). I am really looking forward to it. After the race in March, I pretty much completely stopped running until the middle of August. I started back in the middle of my training program and have been trying to work my way back up ever since. It has been a really frustrating thing for me. This time, I haven't had anyone training with me (Amanda had knee surgery in the summer) and so my motivation has been a little lacking. For WEEKS I tried to do the 20 minute run, unsuccessfully. I knew that I was physically capable of it. I would get within just a few yards of being done, and would quit. It was crazy! And very frustrating.

Then, I ordered (and read) The Non-Runner's Marathon Trainer. It deals with the mental aspect of training just as much as the physical component. I realized that the negative messages that I was sending to myself the whole time I was running had been keeping me from success. Usually, something like this might be going through my head "If I can just get to that stop sign, then I can stop running. I think I can do it. I just have to get to that stop sign. Man, that stop sign is really far away...."

This week, I have been consciously replacing those thoughts with positive messages like these "I can easily get to that stop sign. No problem. I can keep running after that, if I want to. I feel amazing. I love to run. This feels incredible. I am getting faster and faster."
At first, I felt a little silly. But, I did it anyway. And, when I looked down at my watch, I realized that I had been running for 22 minutes. And it was easy. I felt like I really could have kept running! I couldn't believe how much the mental and physical affect each other.

So, the last day or so, I have been paying more attention to the messages that I tell myself in regards to other areas of my life. And it is really helping! It is almost like a self-fulfilling prophesy. If I believe that I can't run two miles, then I am unable to do it. If I believe that it is going to be an awful day, boom, it is. Because my mental attitude shapes a lot of my reality. Obviously, there will always be outside forces that I can't control. And, there are things that will never be possible, no matter what my internal dialogue says. I will never win the Tour De France. So telling myself that I can would just be kind of lame.

But there are plenty of other things that I can control, just by my attitude and the way that I choose to perceive my current situation. I would consider myself a generally positive person, but as with most aspects of life, there is always room for improvement. I am feeling the affects of being more positive in regards to running and I am working to be more aware of what I think and say to myself during other times too.
It requires continually practicing contentment, gratefulness, and thankfulness.

"Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us" -Hebrews 12:1

*Creative commons image from tangywolf on flickr.com

NEW CHALLENGE!

This isn't the challenge I was talking about yesterday (more on that one later!) but I just found out about THIS one from Andrea at The Flourishing Mother (thank you, Andrea!). I am so, so in! I think this will be incredible!

Anyone else on board?