#runstephanierun

[karladoesmotherhood]

Resolutions 2013

Half of Americans rail against the stupidity of making resolutions.

The rest of us do it anyway.

I love making resolutions. I think it's a great way to challenge yourself and grow. If you never do those two things, you'll suddenly be at the end of your life thinking "where did it go and what did I do?!"

Anyway.

My goals for the year are just that, meant to be lived out for the entire year. And if some of them don't happen, that's okay, too. I'm not going to be defined by my successes or failures from resolutions.

That said, I'm pretty stoked about 2013.

Obligatory Weight Loss Goal: Lose all the weight by the end of the year. And/or get as close as possible to my goal weight. This has nine months to occur after Andrew is born, and I can't start until March, so I've got some time to work out the details.

Get my first tattoo. Yes, my first. Possibly/probably my last.

Run a Ragnar (I already signed up). Run a marathon by myself. (RunStephanieRun, we should do one "together" and train for it in tandem but on the day of, go solo.) Run all the runs I love (Seattle Firecracker 5000, Poulsbo Viking Fest 5 miler in May, Poulsbo whatever distance in October, maybe a St. Paddy's day and definitely a Turkey Trot.)

Memorize the book of Ephesians.

Be a better steward of my family's finances. This involves using cash to pay for groceries and sundries, keeping up with my bank account online, and avoiding entirely superfluous purchases (I'm looking at YOU, coffee addiction.)

Read at least 24 books of any type. (I set some goal about reading last year, and I was honestly surprised at how many books I did read, considering I don't think of myself as a big reader.)

I think that's it. And that's plenty. Of course, I'll be a mom of two in about two months, so I may have to tweak my goals as time goes by and I adjust to life with an infant (babies are not my thing. The older my toddler gets the more I like her. Is that bad to say? Don't care, it's true.)

Excited for 2013!

[fit-teacher]

And the winner is...

runstephanierun is the winner! Thanks to all who participated in GOIO!

Please message me your address, and I'm sorry it took so long - I've had the giftcard for 2 weeks and just haven't gotten on Tumblr! :)

[karladoesmotherhood]

To Milton, with love

*(In exactly one week my little family and I will be moving about 15 minutes away from our current home, Milton. I've lived here for eight years, and I need to say a few words in parting.)

Dear Milton,

Well, it's been great, hasn't it? I started my running career right here, with you. I went from being a retired band nerd who never moved to a legit jock.  I've put in countless miles running all over you and your buddy, Edgewood. We've done it all together: short runs, long runs, fun runs, ugly runs. We've been together in every type of weather: sun, rain, snow, wind, low rolling fog and pea-soup fog. I've gone slow and I've gone fast. You didn't care either way.

You and I went through a lot of life together. Three different jobs, and then no job because I became a mom. Two pregnancies. Two miscarriages. Good times. Bad times.

I've watched fog roll from an old orchard into Surprise Lake in the dark at 5:30am. I've seen countless sunrises, and lots of small woodland creatures frittering about. I've run here with RunStephanieRun and RunningTheGoodRace and my friend Becca, but mostly I've just run with you. We've seen the rare homeless person, people waiting for buses, and other people running to the gym.

Remember that time last year it snowed about 12" overnight? I still woke up at 5am and ran through the snow to the gym, lifted, and then ran home, gym bag awkwardly bouncing about my back. It was absolutely magical. The darkened world muted, covered in a thick layer of snow which was still visible coming down in the orange cones of the street lights. I will never forget that run, or pulling on my fleece lined tights thinking I was probably crazy for doing it. I was crazy for doing it, and I'm glad I did.

Mostly, I loved the summer mornings that broke cold and clear, but warm enough for shorts and a tech t. Waking up at 5 is way more reasonable when the sun is there to greet you. Knowing that this was going to be a sunny, glorious summers day. And knowing I'd already ruled it by running it.

Thanks for being safe. When it's dark, when it's light, I've always known no one was going to mug me or cut out my liver.

You saw me train through my first 5k, then my first half marathon. You saw me get skinny, then fat, then pregnant, then skinny, then fat, then pregnant. I saw your road construction and your new houses being built and remember when the gym moved? And walking to the gym required 20 minutes instead of 12? Good times.

Anyway, it's been eight good years. Eight years of being married, eight years of running. Eight years of training for well over 50 races. Eight years of getting to know all your back roads and that the drivers in Edgewood on a Saturday morning at 6:30am when there's NO ONE ELSE OUT THERE are still not likely to dodge away from me on the road. And I'll be back. I'm just moving to the valley below, and we both know there aren't hills. So when I start training for half and full marathons again, I'll be back.

So, just thanks. You'll always hold a special place in my heart. You have helped me be KarlaDoesMotherhood.

Love, Karla

[karladoesmotherhood]

I went walking in the rain this morning.

That is not a(n?) euphemism.

My current workout schedule is lifting at the gym M/W/F for about half an hour, then various cardio for 20 minutes, and T/TH I walk outside. Mostly I take the weekends off because I'm pregnant and I'm not training for anything and I can.

But sure enough, because RunStephanieRun posted something about her running rain jacket ensuring no rain would come, it rained like the dickens this morning. Now, momma didn't raise no fool. And being born and raised in the great PNW, I know the type of rain that tells you to go the heck back inside you fool! But today's rain was more "dude I'm totally serious about raining, but chances are good you won't be saturated by the time you get home." So out I went.

I read last night in a magazine that one way to mitigate stress is to take a walk outside for 20 minutes. Not the same as walking inside a mall or on a treadmill, the author said. I've got to agree. There's something entirely cathartic about being outside and moving, whether I'm running or walking (urban hiking?) or if it's in beautiful clear sunny summer mornings or dark rainy 5am slogs. Somehow the sound of the rain, or the smell of the air, or the varied terrain, or the small woodland creatures (who tend to enchant me when it's summer and there's plenty of light, and frighten me when it's winter and dark), all manage to clear my head and set me straight again.

Sometimes I can't help but think that the elusive "runner's high" is just as much about being outside and working your body as it is about endorphins.

Anyway, it was a good walk, no matter the ten hours it'll take for my rain jacket to dry out. (And yes, I scotch-guarded that thing like crazy. It takes brass to get outside in the PNW fall/winter.)

[karladoesmotherhood]

Running the hills

I find it interesting that I start and end my run in the same place, but running my usual Thursday route clockwise vs counterclockwise is mentally harder in terms of hills. I mean, the elevation gain and loss is the same, but going in one direction means a more gradual but longer uphill stint, and the other way is pretty steep but relatively short.

I prefer to run the bigger hill gradually as opposed to a short steep hill. You would think it doesn't make a difference, but to those of us who have run for any length of time, we all know running is mental anyway. In every sense of the term.

I reminded myself this morning that, as RunStephanieRun would say, I eat hills for breakfast. Which is true, but is hard to remind my body of sometimes.

Either way, 5.5 miles under my belt. And I saw a house we should buy. In that theoretical kind of way. (Perfect house, location, and price, but it's been "sale pending" for the last six months.)

[karladoesmotherhood]

Is anyone actually that interested?

..to read this whole thing? I won't be offended if you don't, fives. I also don't know that I can tag 11 people as the rules suggest, as I only have five readers. (Full disclosure, I have like 24, but at least a few of those are Spambots.)

Rule 1: Repost the rules Rule 2: Answer the questions the tagger set for you in their post and then make 11 new ones Rule 3: Tag 11 people and link them to your post Rule 4: Let them know they’ve been tagged

Brenna’s questions:

1. If you could only save one item (non-living) from your burning home, what would it be?

I hate to confess this, but... probably my iPhone.

2. If you could attain one skill you don’t already possess and be able to execute it flawlessly at the push of a button, what would it be?

Dress fashionably but affordably. I'm just chronically preppy.

3. If you owned a CB radio, what would your handle be?

Kickinbootiekarla. It was a nickname from high school.

4. You’re replacing a roll of toilet paper: does the paper roll over or under?

Over. Obvs.

5. At long last, someone invents “the dream VCR.” This machine allows you to tape an entire evening’s worth of your own dreams, which you can then watch at your leisure. However, the inventor of the dream VCR will only allow you to use this device of you agree to a strange caveat: When you watch your dreams, you must do so with your family and your closest friends in the same room. They get to watch your dreams along with you. And if you don’t agree to this, you can’t use the dream VCR. Would you still do this? (Stolen from Chuck Klosterman.)

Yes...?

6. Top three favorite scents?

Fresh cut grass in the summer, coffee, bacon.

7. You’re going on a road trip: aside from mix CDs (always a given), what are three essentials you require?

Chap-stick of some sort, a coffee, a sweater. I get cold sometimes.

8. Which fictional character do you most closely identify with?

BAHAHAHA! I'm not joking when I say Miss Piggy. I watched the most recent Muppets movie and thought "Dude! Kermit and Piggy are uncannily like Peter and I!"

9. Do you have any hidden talents? If so, what are they?

I can tell you anything you want to know about volcanoes. Anything.

10. What was your best Halloween costume?

I was Jem when I was four.

11. You have an unfortunate run-in with a very angry genie, and he forces you to choose one of your five senses to sacrifice. Which do you give up?

Smell.

Molly's questions:

1. If you could choose to stay a certain age forever, what age would it be and why?

29. Seems like you're posed on the precipice of youth and adulthood. No going back once your'e 30.

2. If you had to change your first name, what would you change it to?

If it weren't my cousin's name, it'd be Monica. But since it is my cousin's name, maybe CJ or Allison, for reasons I'm too embarrassed to explain.

3. When you have 30 minutes of free time, how do you pass the time?

Recently I've been taking 30 minutes every weekday to just clean whatever in the house. It's AMAZING how much you can get done.

4. Have you ever had something happen to you that you thought was bad but it turned out to be for the best? If so, what was it?

My hubs and I were going to relocate a few years back, but the job fell through and we ended up meeting some amazing friends here at home!

5. What was the last experience that made you a stronger person?

The shit-storm of stress my life has been for the past month.

6. What do you miss most about being a kid?

Not paying and/or worrying about money and bills.

7. When was the last time you were really nervous?

Probably when meeting old students.

8. What one thing got you in the most trouble?

Not paying my rent. Today.

9. When was the last time you cried?

Four days ago. Thinking about how we weren't going to be able to pay for rent.

10. If you could be reincarnated as a drink, what would it be?

Easy: grapefruit juice.

11. If you could be immortal for a day, what would you do?

Sky dive, for sure.

[karladoesmotherhood]

Today's random thoughts:

Biggest Loser: I'm going to hurt someone if Conda (or her brother, for that matter), wins. Mean girls should never win at things.

Kiddie play places in the mall are gross. Shared sneezes, drool, leaky diapers, etc. And this coming from the mom who doesn't sanitize her kid's binkie every time it falls on the ground. For reals.

I've been sugar and flour free for a week, on 1,200 (ish) calories a day. (With exceptions on Saturday when I have double workouts). It's hard to stick to that low a calorie count, but the rest of it isn't so bad, especially because the foods I eat are relatively cheap (fruit/veg/meat/dairy) and I don't crave carbs all day, which is the best part of all.

I had a back-to-back-to-back day on Tuesday. WHY do I do that to myself? I'm absolutely shot for the next 24-48 hours. I don't do stress very well.

Mothering is SO HARD sometimes. So thankless. I love my kid a lot, and she's cute and fun, but man! Sometimes I just need some breathing room.

My lifting has been going well, but I'm phoning in the cardio. Which, considering my caloric intake, is NBD. IMO.

RunStephanieRun gave me her copies of the Hunger Games trilogy. It's been too long since I've had books suck my face off, so I'm excited.

I'm so ready for spring. Everyone in the Pacific Northwest is complaining about the weather on the Facebooks, which is annoying, so instead of being that annoying girl, I'll be the annoying girl on Tumblr who complains about the weather. (I justify it by saying some of my fives are scattered about the country.)

I've been SUPER cold while sleeping lately, to the point where I have difficulties getting proper rest. Not sure what my deal is. It gets no lower than the mid-30's outside at night, so that's not it. But I knew something was very wrong when I had to get one of those microwavable bean bag things out last night at 1am to warm myself up!

I wake up at 4:25am. It's hard, but generally worth it. Of course, I'm also in bed by 9pm.